Edinburgh Evening News

The essence of Princes Street is the rational layout of the New Town, a product of the Scottish Enlightenment, set against the naturally-planned, ragged and romantic Old Town, crowned by the Castle on its volcanic plug. These two ways of building cities are set against each other across the green heart of Edinburgh - Princes Street Gardens. Such a fine thing to live in a city centred on a calm green space alive with the conversation between ideas built in stone. Princes Street is at its worst when its strict rational plan has tried for order in the buildings that grow out of it. There are decent Georgian remains, but a whole street of them must have been dull, a long row of plainness that was consciously revived for the daft 1960s Princes Street Panel buildings, a "vision" to replace all the historic buildings on the street with uniform modern drab - and an unrealisable pedestrian deck.