If you've walked, cycled, or driven through Leith recently, you'll have noticed them. Two tall yellow tower cranes, hard to miss against the Edinburgh skyline, planted there long enough that locals have almost stopped seeing them. Almost. According to The Scotsman, the structures are now due to be removed in the coming months, marking the winding-down of a significant construction phase in one of Edinburgh's most energetically developing neighbourhoods.
Leith has been mid-transformation for the better part of a decade. The waterfront has attracted investment, new residents, and a wave of independent businesses that have quietly built something genuinely good along the Shore and beyond. Construction is the unglamorous price of that progress: noise, dust, cordons, and yes, enormous yellow towers blocking the view from your office window.
The removal of visible construction infrastructure is a reliable psychological signal. Research from the Urban Land Institute has consistently shown that neighbourhood perception shifts significantly when construction hoarding and heavy equipment disappear, often faster than the actual footfall data catches up. For traders in the immediate area, that shift in perception can translate into a real lift in passing custom within weeks.
Edinburgh's development pipeline remains substantial. According to City of Edinburgh Council planning data, major projects across Leith, Granton, and the wider waterfront corridor are expected to deliver thousands of new homes and commercial units over the next decade. The cranes will return, somewhere. But each departure marks a chapter closing and something finished, which matters more than it might sound.
For now, Leith gets its skyline back. The towers served their purpose. The city moves forward, one less piece of heavy machinery at a time, and somewhere along the Shore, a café owner is probably already thinking about which window table now has the better view.