In his famous study of the planning, financing and building of the New Town of Edinburgh, Professor Youngson recreates and brings to life one of the most comprehensive, detailed and remarkable urban expansion programmes ever undertaken. He describes the vigour of the planning debates, the fundraising schemes, the administrative and legislative infrastructure of planning, the construction of public buildings as poles of attraction for speculative building, and all the hopes, quarrels, victories and civic bankruptcy that went into this great experiment.
Superbly illustrated, this book is an acclaimed work of economic and social history, and a fascinating account of the shaping of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
A. J. Youngson is former Chairman of the Fine Art Commission Scotland and is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Edinburgh.