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North Edinburgh Connections: A Chance to Get Street Design Right
POSTED ON MARCH 19, 2026 BY JAMES GARRY
Streets as civic spaces, not just routes for movement
A consultation is now open on the North Edinburgh Connections project, previously known as NEAT. Though framed as an active travel scheme, it is more consequential than that label suggests. It will reshape some of north Edinburgh’s most important streets and, with them, the everyday experience of the communities they serve.
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The language of “active travel” is useful shorthand, but it can obscure what is truly at stake. Streets are not simply corridors for movement. They are the most immediate and widely shared public spaces in any city. For decades, many of Edinburgh’s arterial roads have been shaped around vehicle throughput, often at the expense of pedestrian comfort, safety and environmental quality. North Edinburgh’s main roads are a clear example: wide carriageways, fast-moving traffic and fragmented crossings have created places that feel inhospitable, particularly for those on foot or using mobility aids.
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The risk of doing it halfway
Edinburgh’s experience of street redesign over recent years offers some instructive lessons, and not all of them are encouraging. Cycle routes interrupted at junctions, planting that feels incidental, materials that age poorly, layouts that do not reflect how people actually move through an area: these are not minor imperfections. They erode confidence in the process and limit the long-term value of the investment.
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https://www.cockburnassociation.org.uk/news/north-edinburgh-connections-a-chance-to-get-street-design-righ/?