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Article: A strange case of convergence: two cities: Edinburgh and Glasgow. (Scotland)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 19, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scotland's principal cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, are 40 miles and a whole world apart. But are they slowly turning into one another?
IN 1935 the Orcadian writer Edwin Muir conducted a literary journey through Scotland, and his first words on the two cities are still a good summary. Of Scotland's capital he said: "The first sight of Edinburgh after an absence is invariably exciting. Its bold and stony look recalls ravines and quarried mountains". But he also found it "a city of extraordinary and sordid contrasts".
It is still that. In Muir's day, Edinburgh's poor were still clustered in the dank but romantic old town. Modern Edinburgh has managed things ...