In the post-war period, the social environment in south-western Edinburgh was completely transformed by council house building. Responding to a growing waiting list and criticism of its former housing policy, the Edinburgh Corporation began incorporating high-rise homes much more strongly into its developments. Wester Hailes, once an area of farmsteads and pre-fabs, was transformed into a housing scheme defined by its modernist housing blocks in order to rehome those still living in crumbling and insanitary property in the Canongate and Southside. This talk investigates this move and its outcomes.

Aaron Colin Sheridan is a final year PhD student at the University of Strathclyde working on a social and oral history of council housing schemes in Edinburgh. His work focuses on the experiences of tenants at home and in the community; identity formation; and reputational discourses. He has also worked as a research intern at the Scottish Government and at Places for People Scotland, and is currently a research assistant at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.