We’ve all seen the videos circulating within the cyberspace of TikTok and Instagram, depicting rough-hewn stone, perma-drizzle and a moody brown filter matched with some Bon Iver single to create autumnal aesthetic perfection. The question is, do we buy into the image of Edinburgh’s untouched gothic sublimity? Or does this depiction encourage the loss of nuance and idiosyncrasies, treating Edinburgh not as a multicultural, architecturally and aesthetically diverse city, but as visually-appealing clickbait for micro-influencers to exploit?
Can we subscribe to the romanticism of a city which is slowly driving out those who have lived there their whole lives in favour of Southern university students who can afford the rapidly increasing rent? Or do we conversely subscribe to the doctrine of realism, which views the city as not a creature of touristic fantasies, but rather a complex entity which often overlooks its local inhabitants for its economically capable students and tourists?
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average house price in Edinburgh rose by 4.5 per cent from July 2024, with private rent prices increasing annually by 1.6 per cent. The average price of a home was £289,000, representing a 4.5 per cent rise compared to the previous year. What these figures represent is a rapidly narrowing housing market, which has the potential to displace locals from the city in which they were born.
Though there is nothing wrong with romanticising your education in what is renowned as a place of both natural and architectural beauty, which is acknowledged by most who attend the hallowed halls of the University of Edinburgh, what should be explored is how this aestheticism deliberately neglects the harsher reality of Scotland’s capital. Edinburgh cannot be reduced online to fashionable shots of Prince’s Street. What of the brutalism of the central library? Or the vastly less visually pleasing suburbia which surrounds us? Do we simply have to wander the Royal Mile and New Town to gain the click-worthy Edinburgh experience?
Having spoken to various Scottish students, the verdict given to The Student was that this narrow depiction seems rather tone-deaf and is symptomatic of the marginalisation some Scottish students feel they are faced with by the Southern inhabitants of their city.
Furthermore, do those who do come to the university with the impression social media has made on them feel that their pre-conceived image has misled them? Speaking to students who moved here with little knowledge of the city, it seems that the depiction of Edinburgh on social media did, in fact, spur them to apply and was often a deciding factor in accepting their offers. Now, as attendees of the university, it seems that their reality in Edinburgh has been both peppered with satisfaction at attending university in a beautiful, historic city, and yet underlying dissatisfaction, with one student stating that “I have to take a small mortgage out on a cup of coffee.”
Whilst the majority of this romanticisation is harmless and intended to celebrate the unique historical backdrop of our university, an endeavour which is encouraged to bring economic growth and tourism, a level of self-awareness should be observed in order not to underestimate the reality of living in what is becoming a rapidly more expensive capital city. Charm and aesthetic can be found in Edinburgh, both in its ancient beauty, and within its less visually pleasing, yet just as important, brutalism and diversity.
Photo by Julia Solonina on Unsplash.
