Neighbourhood survey sets local priorities
Residents help deliver improvements in the City Centre
Each year the Council asks residents what they think about their neighbourhood and what needs to be improved.
The results from the survey carried out in autumn 2009 are very positive, showing that satisfaction with the way the Council is managing neighbourhoods and frontline services has increased each year.
“The city centre is unique among neighbourhoods in Edinburgh, being a World Heritage site and hosting a vast range of business, cultural and entertainment activities,” said Mike Penny, City Centre Neighbourhood manager.
“This demands a unique approach to delivering and improving services. We strive to balance the impact of millions of tourists, those who travel here to work, to shop or for the nightlife, with the fact that the city centre is also home to around 24,000 residents.”
Last year, residents and visitors wanted us to focus on the appearance of streets and we’re working to improve the area by:
- working with bars, clubs and businesses to stop cigarette ends littering the street
- introducing approved poster sites to eliminate fly-posting
- refurbishing the historic Scotsman Steps
- working to remove graffiti
Mike added: “People also told us that safety is important and we’re working closer than ever with the Police.
“We’ve co-ordinated our community safety staff’s working patterns with the Police to ensure maximum effectiveness on the ground.”
Need to know
For more information, contact sfc.research@edinburgh.gov.uk or call Davina Fereday on 0131 529 7040.
And what do our visitors think of the city centre?
We asked 100 visitors what they thought of the city as part of a small survey carried out in September 2009. The results were overwhelming:
- 100 per cent of visitors rated Edinburgh’s historic city centre as “very good” or “good”
- 70 per cent of visitors said they would “definitely” or “probably” visit Edinburgh again
- 100 per cent said they would “definitely” or “probably” recommend Edinburgh to others as a place to visit
- 100 per cent felt Edinburgh has a “very big advantage” or a “big advantage” over other UK cities as a place to visit for leisure or tourism
- 100 per cent were satisfied with architecture
- 100 per cent were satisfied with personal safety
- 99 per cent were satisfied with cleanliness
- 90 per cent were satisfied with parks
- 67 per cent were satisfied with public transport.
- Most respondents (69 per cent) enjoyed the architecture of the city centre the best. The feel of an attractive, historic, yet vibrant city centre made a strong impression on visitors.
A minority of visitors said they disliked the road works (8 per cent) and the traffic (5 per cent).