Livingston is West Lothians largest town and has in recent years become the central hub for West Lothians Council, Local Government and |Justice system. It is a New Town that was planned and developed in the 1960s through til present day wityh work starting in 1962. T
Livingston – West Lothian’s New Town
This New Town was established to cater for the vast population moving out of Glasgow at this time in a wave of Migrancy known as the ‘Glasgow Overspill’.
The Original Area Livingston
The land upon which this New Town was built on originally consisted of a variety of Agricultural land alongside various bits of Mining field and forestry with a few small settlements and farms dotted throughout it. The Old villages of Livingston itself, and the nearby Livingston station also sat upon this land. These settlements have been swallowed up and Incorporated into the new Town with the original Village of Livingston, now being the area of Livingston Village and the Old Livingston Station village now being part of the greater housing estate of Deans South.
Planning the Work
The whole concept of this New Town was to give every resident their little house and garden in a clean and spacious place with no shortage of Greenery. Green space has always been something held dear by Glaswegians so Livingston, like its contemporary Newtown’s of Milton Keynes, East Kildride, Cumbernauld and the like catered for this love for nature.
Working the Plan
The Actual carrying out of the building work of Todays Livingston has been executed over the past decades in as many ‘Phases’. Phase One being started in 1962 and its latest Phase 6, only just in the past few years and still being worked on today.
Phase One
Phase One of Livingston Kicked off in 1962 with the creation of the housing Estate at Craig’s Hill. The aptly named Craigshill Scheme, was Livingstons First housing estate and was quickly populated by Families moving out from Glasgow for a better life in a cleaner environment with Fresh air and Fields. Having ones own garden was a luxury many Glasgow residents never experienced before, the city being as cramped as it was at this time. Now they had their own little plots and the area was filling as fast as it was being built.
The New Housing Estate of Deans which incorporated the existing village of Livingston Station was the next housing development to go up. It spread out over a vast amount of land on which previously stood the Old Deans Chemical Works and Pits and over the surrounding fields to where the old settlement of Carmondene was. This gap was quickly bridged by the Knightsbridge estate named after the ridge it was situated upon and the neighbouring Ladywell estate to the South.
Phase Two
Phase Three
Phase Four
Phase Five
Phase Six
Livingston Skatepark
The legendary, world-renowned concrete skatepark located in the town centre. The initial ‘fantasy park’ blueprints drawn up by architect Iain Urquhart. The plan was a very low budget project that would Incorporate all the left over concrete and materials that had been used to build the Newtown over the past decade and a half..
Built in 1981 and is open 24 hours a day for the full 365 days of the year. It never closes. So skaters can roll on down any time of the day or night they like to pull some tricks or practice. This first phase gave the park its iconic, massive bowls and permanently put Livingston on the map for global skate and BMX culture. Today, the Livingston Bowl sees skaters coming from all around the Globe to view or use the skate park.
Tech & Industria
Shoppers Utopia
Well, when you have housing and work for so many people, you’re gonna need somewhere for them to do their shopping, go sit in a cafe or just hang out. Unlike conventional ‘Organic towns’, Livingston didnt Include a Traditional High street in It’s plans. Instead, it featured a n entire area of the town, committed to shoppers. The Almondvale Shopping Centre was built In 1978, by the Livingston Development Corporation (LDC), this original section is known today as Almondvale Walk.
The Livingston Shopping centre originally had a dark, brick-heavy design that felt like an outdoor precinct despite being roofed, and it hosted classic 70s anchor stores like Woolco and Fine Fare. You can still see this today from where the Inside entrance to Asda is right up to the building which is now the Bingo Hall. When Phase One of the centre was completed, this building was actually a new multi screen cinema and was situated just outside the centres main doors
It was later followed by Phase Two in 1995, which was named ‘Almondvale Place’. This was a more modern upto date building for its time and unlike the Block-like style of the original, it had a glass roof which lit the place up naturally. Phase Three, ‘The Elements’ was finally built and completed in 2008. This focused on designer stores and department stores such as Marks and spencer and House of Fraser. It was accompanied by the opening of the new MacArthur Glen centre across the road from it which is now ‘The Livingston designer Outlet’.