page_title: Leith
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Leith / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Leith docks, western harbour, refilled dock.
context_page_description: Leith is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the Water of Leith.
  The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of Holyrood Abbey in 1128. The medieval settlements of Leith had grown into a burgh by 1833, and the burgh was merged into Edinburgh in 1920.
  Leith is located on the coast of the Firth of Forth and lies within the City of Edinburgh.
context_section_description: After decades of industrial decline, deindustrialisation, slum clearance and resultant depopulation in the post-war era, Leith gradually began to enjoy an upturn in fortunes in the late 1980s. Several old industrial sites were developed with modest, affordable housing, while small industrial business units were constructed at Swanfield, Bonnington, Seafield and off Lindsay Road. The Shore developed a clutch of upmarket restaurants, including the first of the chain of Malmaison hotels in a conversion of the former "Angel Hotel", a seaman's mission, whilst the once industrially-polluted and desolate banks of the Water of Leith were cleaned up and a public walkway opened.
  Leith's gradual revival was also helped by the decision of the then Scottish Office to site their new offices in Leith Docks (just north of the old infilled East Dock). The site was chosen as part of a design-and-build competition against other sites at Haymarket and Marionville. It was completed in 1994. The hoped for influx of well-paid civil service jobs failed to have much local impact as most commute to the office, and only a small percentage venture beyond the confines of the office during lunchtimes. It did further foster Leith's growing reputation as a white-collar, small business location. Further large-scale service and tourist development followed, including the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and the permanently moored Royal Yacht Britannia. The plan to connect Ocean Terminal and the Scottish Executive building area by the new Edinburgh Trams by the Port of Leith tram stop has been shelved.
  In 2004 the owner of the docks, Forth Ports, announced plans to eventually close the port and carry out a major redevelopment of the area. The planned development, which was given supplementary planning guidance by The City of Edinburgh Council in 2004, was a small town with up to 17,000 new homes.
caption: Western Harbour
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