Tourism will turn Edinburgh into vulgar wasteland, says author
IT is seen as the jewel in Scotland’s tourist crown as millions flock to the city every year.
But one of the country’s top authors has warned that tourism is in danger of turning Edinburgh into a ‘vulgar wasteland’.
Alexander McCall Smith said he fears the city will become full of ‘tat shops, big hotels and nothing much else’ if the visitor numbers are not kept under control.
He wants Edinburgh to make it ‘possible for ordinary families to continue to live in town’.
He continued: ‘That will require some serious thinking by the planning authorities and the council in general. We will need to ensure that Airbnb establishments don’t take over the place.’
Talking of his experience of living in American cities with ‘no sense of anybody actually living there’, the creator of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency said: ‘It serves as a warning of what can happen. Bits of London are like that too, with astronomically expensive houses and flats lying empty, owned by people who live in them for a few weeks of the year, if that. We must not allow Edinburgh to become like that.’
Speaking as part of Marketing Edinburgh’s Edinburgh 2050 Vision Project, McCall Smith said there is a need ‘to stop filling the centre of the city with hotels’, adding: ‘Hotels are fine but cities should not be made up exclusively of hotels. Why would people come to a city full of hotels? To see other hotels? People come to Edinburgh to see a real place, with small streets and small shops and ordinary people going about their business.
‘Finally, we need to save our High Street. We need to ban the hanging of tartan merchandise out on the pavement.
‘Our city won’t look after itself. We need to cherish it.
‘We must keep tourism under control because, if we don’t, by 2050 Edinburgh will be a vulgar wasteland of tourist tat shops, big hotels, and nothing much else.’ Earlier this month, Marketing Edinburgh’s chairman, Gordon Robertson, defended tourism.
He said: ‘Everyone in the city must benefit from tourism. How do we protect our city as we grow? It is not by saying that our city is full and turning away visitors.’
Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross said: ‘We welcome all views and ambitions for the city and hope McCall Smith’s contribution encourages others to engage and have their opinions heard.’