In all, 39 parts of the UK – including eight in Scotland – have applied to win the title in a competition being run by the UK Government to mark the Queen’s Platinum jubilee.
Including Livingston, the Scottish places that have applied are Dumfries, Dunfermline, Elgin, Greenock, Oban, St Andrews and most curiously, the whole of South Ayrshire.
In the end, three places in the UK will be granted the status and become a city.
Dumfries
The town has campaigned to get city status for more than 20 years and lost out in 2011 so may be one of the frontrunners this time. It has also pitched its bid as Scotland’s most southerly city and was made a royal burgh in the 12th century. The application process asks for well-known people who have connections to the area and famous Dumfries residents include JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, and Robert Burns.
Dunfermline
One of two Fife towns bidding to become a city – the other is St Andrews – it has strong royal connections; Robert the Bruce is buried in the Abbey. Seen as one of Europe’s fastest growing towns, with a population of over 50,000 and rising, some consider it a city already. It is in with a serious chance.
South Ayrshire
The most unusual application – although Ayr has applied before – South Ayrshire Council has applied as an entire region and, at 120,000, it certainly has the population of a city. Its application emphasises its history, expanding aeronautics industry and tourist-friendly beaches and villages, but it is probably one of the outliers in the competition.
Elgin
For many of its residents, Elgin is a city already due to the presence of its cathedral and its status as royal burgh but officially it is still a town. Often feeling overshadowed by Aberdeen to the east and Inverness to the west, official city status from the Queen would be a rubber-stamp of how it already feels.
Which town deserves to be Scotland’s newest city..and does it even matter?
Greenock
Like Livingston, Greenock sees its bid as a way to help it regenerate and recover from the post-industrial slump of the 1970s and 80s. Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “We have so much to offer and we want to encourage more people to discover Greenock and Inverclyde as a place to live, work and do business so bidding for city status can only help raise our profile further and potentially open doors.”
Oban
The Highland town’s application has emphasised its importance as a transport hub – it has one of the busiest ferry ports in the UK. The town’s leaders also see it as a way of boosting tourism even further – in the summer months, its population grows from 9,000 to over 25,000.
St Andrews
The town’s high profile and history makes it one of the frontrunners. Not only does the application emphasise its status as the home of golf, it is also home of the country’s first university. The civic leaders have argued that civic status would benefit the rest of Fife by attracting visitors beyond golfers or day-trippers from Edinburgh.
Livingston
The youngster of the bunch – starting as a cluster of villages, the new town was developed in the 1960s as a solution to the overcrowding in Glasgow and has since expanded rapidly. Having struggled with deprivation and the loss of local employers, the leaders of the bid see city status as a means of promoting the community and attracting investment.
Which town deserves to be Scotland’s newest city..and does it even matter?
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