Scottish Urban Research Articles

Emergency general surgery: impact of distance and rurality on mortality.

BackgroundThere is debate about whether the distance from hospital, or rurality, impacts outcomes in patients admitted under emergency general surgery (EGS). The aim of this study was to determine whether distance from hospital, or rurality, affects the mortality of emergency surgical patients admitted in Scotland.MethodsThis was a retrospective population-level cohort study, including all EGS patients in Scotland aged 16 years or older admitted between 1998 and 2018. A multiple logistic regression model was created with inpatient mortality as the dependent variable, and distance from hospital (in quartiles) as the independent variable of interest, adjusting for age, sex, co-morbidity, deprivation, admission origin, diagnosis category, operative category, and year of admission. A second multiple logistic regression model was created with a six-fold Scottish Urban Rural Classification (SURC) as the independent variable of interest. Subgroup analyses evaluated patients who required operations, emergency laparotomy, and inter-hospital transfer.ResultsData included 1 572 196 EGS admissions. Those living in the farthest distance quartile from hospital had lower odds of mortality than those in the closest quartile (OR 0.829, 95 per cent c.i. 0.798 to 0.861). Patients from the most rural areas (SURC 6) had higher odds of survival than those from the most urban (SURC 1) areas (OR 0.800, 95 per cent c.i. 0.755 to 0.848). Subgroup analysis showed that these effects were not observed for patients who required emergency laparotomy or transfer.ConclusionEGS patients who live some distance from a hospital, or in rural areas, have lower odds of mortality, after adjusting for multiple covariates. Rural and distant patients undergoing emergency laparotomy have no survival advantage, and transferred patients have higher mortality.

Contemporary Scottish Urban Fiction (2000-2020): Space, Emotions, Identity.

Contemporary Scottish Urban Fiction (2000-2020): Space, Emotions, Identity.

The Heavens and Hells of Scottish Literature: An Interview with Alasdair Gray

On the occasion of the publication of the Contemporary Scottish Urban Literature CJES Special Issue, this interview to Scottish writer Alasdair Gray, one of the last he gave, aims to celebrate Gray’s work and to emphasise his role as a crucial influence for the contemporary Scottish writers whose work features in this special issue. In a very personal manner, Gray strings together reflections on contemporary politics, discusses the role of the local and the national in his work and addresses questions on the construction of his male characters in a discourse which ultimately highlights the determining role of Gray’s socio-political and cultural environment plays his art. Moreover, Gray talks about the artists he was exposed to as a kid and the manner in which these were influential. Considering its wide scope, this interview may serve as a guide to better understand Gray’s work, the reasons why he merges fantasy and reality in his novels and short stories, and the socio-political breeding ground of his socialist and civic nationalist political agenda.

Introduction: Scottish Urban Archives and Histories

Introduction: Scottish Urban Archives and Histories

Was there a British Georgian town? A comparison between selected Scottish burghs and English towns

This article examines the nature of Scottish urban ambition during the Enlightenment period, through assessing the pattern of public building construction in selected burghs against the general historiography of Georgian towns. Using principally Scottish burgh council minutes and contemporary publications, it studies the improvement agenda as the context for civic building, and questions whether it provided a discernible process and chronology for the construction activity. In reviewing the symbolic role of public buildings in particular, the article ponders whether there was indeed a British urban experience toward the end of the first century of parliamentary union. [1] It concludes that both in the historically different Scottish urbanism and the distinctive manner in which Scots burghs responded to improvement, the urban experience north and south of the border was significantly different.

Perthes’ disease of the hip: socioeconomic inequalities and the urban environment

IntroductionPerthes’ disease is a puzzling childhood hip disorder for which the aetiology is unknown. It is known to be associated with socioeconomic deprivation. Urban environments have also been implicated as...

Conflict and the Modern in Scottish Urban Space, 1800 – 1914

Conflict and the Modern in Scottish Urban Space, 1800 – 1914

187: Emergency Intubation in a Scottish Urban Emergency Department: An Eight-Year Analysis

To present the epidemiology, induction methods, success rates and complications of emergency department (ED) endotracheal intubation.

Towns, improvement and cultural change in Georgian Scotland: the evidence of the Angus burghs, c. 1760-1820

This article uses the concept of ‘improvement’ to examine the experiences of five burghs in Angus – Dundee, Montrose, Forfar, Brechin and Arbroath – in the later Georgian era. Designed as a contribution to British history in a comparative sense, and using the five burghs as case studies, it seeks to identity distinctively Scottish, as well as common, British elements in Scottish urbanization during a crucial phase in its development. Existing studies of Scottish urban society in this period focus very heavily on the impact of industrialization on large towns and cities, especially Glasgow. Partly as a result, other themes have been neglected or obscured. A second main aim, therefore, is to offer an alternative framework for understanding the development and experiences of the smaller towns in which most of the Scottish urban population lived prior to 1830.

The origins of settlements at Kelso and Peebles, Scottish Borders archaeological excavations in Wester and Easter Kelso and Cuddyside/Bridgegate, Peebles by the Border Burghs Archaeology Project and the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust, 1983--1994

This is a report on archaeological work in two of Scotland's less well-known medieval burghs of Kelso and Peebles. The excavations at Wester Kelso/Floors Castle established that the original medieval burgh of Kelso or Wester Kelso was much further west than previously believed, being situated well inside the present Castle policies. That early settlement at Wester Kelso appears to have been abandoned in the 14th or 15th centuries, at the same time that the royal burgh of Roxburgh was deserted, probably as a result of the English occupation of Roxburgh Castle. The other settlement of Easter Kelso, near the abbey, survived and expanded northwards from the abbey along Roxburgh Street. The finding of a possible building terrace in Phase 1 at 13-19 Roxburgh Street indicates that settlement along the southern end of that street could date to as early as the 13th or 14th centuries. Combining the archaeological, cartographic and documentary evidence, it seems clear that 'Easter' Kelso, now Kelso, had expanded from the market area around tThis is a report on archaeological work in two of Scotland's less well-known medieval burghs of Kelso and Peebles. The excavations at Wester Kelso/Floors Castle established that the original medieval burgh of Kelso or Wester Kelso was much further west than previously believed, being situated well inside the present Castle policies. That early settlement at Wester Kelso appears to have been abandoned in the 14th or 15th centuries, at the same time that the royal burgh of Roxburgh was deserted, probably as a result of the English occupation of Roxburgh Castle. The other settlement of Easter Kelso, near the abbey, survived and expanded northwards from the abbey along Roxburgh Street. The finding of a possible building terrace in Phase 1 at 13-19 Roxburgh Street indicates that settlement along the southern end of that street could date to as early as the 13th or 14th centuries. Combining the archaeological, cartographic and documentary evidence, it seems clear that 'Easter' Kelso, now Kelso, had expanded from the market area around the abbey northwards towards the Floors estate by the early 18th century.The excavations in Peebles have provided important information on the origins of the settlement of the peninsular ridge between the Tweed and Eddleston Water. The results obtained from the excavations at the two sites in Peebles indicate that settlement of the ridge began in the 12th century, soon after the establishment of the royal castle and burgh by David I (1124-53). At both sites, after initial dumping of rubbish, possibly to raise the ground level to counter flooding, occupation, in the form of stone structures, can be dated to the 14th century at the latest, with probable earlier dumping of domestic refuse in the 12th and 13th centuries. The street of Bridgegate was apparently laid out in the 13th or 14th centuries when the excavated site was divided into three properties aligned on that street, two of which had stone buildings erected on them. Alternatively, Bridgegate may have been the initial focus of settlement on the east side of the Eddleston, providing the access route from the east into Old Town, where a pilgrimage centre had been established at the Cross Kirk in 1261, and the location of the tolbooth (Bridgegate Building 4) in it suggests that this street was originally more important than High Street. It is noteworthy that all eight medieval buildings excavated at the two Peebles sites were of stone construction. Peebles tolbooth, the civic centre of the burgh, is the only medieval tolbooth site in Scotland to have been excavated.

Historic Linlithgow: The Archaeological Implications of Development2001243E. Patricia Dennison, Russel Coleman. Historic Linlithgow: The Archaeological Implications of Development. Edinburgh: Scottish Cultural Press, for Historic Scotland, in association with Tuckwell Press, the Centre for Scottish Urban History (University of Edinburgh) and West Lothian Council 2000. viii + 147 pp, ISBN: 1 84017 013 1 Scottish Burgh Survey series

Historic Linlithgow: The Archaeological Implications of Development2001243E. Patricia Dennison, Russel Coleman. <i>Historic Linlithgow: The Archaeological Implications of Development</i>. Edinburgh: Scottish Cultural Press, for Historic Scotland, in association with Tuckwell Press, the Centre for Scottish Urban History (University of Edinburgh) and West Lothian Council 2000. viii + 147 pp, ISBN: 1 84017 013 1 Scottish Burgh Survey series

Competition and Area Selection in Scotland's New Urban Policy

Competition has become increasingly important as a method of allocating resources in urban policy, particularly with the shift towards decentralised, area-based strategies. This has created uncertainty about the rules of the game and aroused suspicions of arbitrary manipulation of area selection. In this paper, we investigate how area regeneration bids are assessed. We examine the reshaping of the Scottish Urban Programme under Programme for Partnership and the targeting of support on fewer priority areas. How were the successful areas chosen, and how fair and consistent were the procedures? We reveal discrepancies between the criteria put forward in the official guidelines and the outcome. Bid quality and social need seem to have been downplayed in relation to other considerations. The conclusion suggests how the policy might recover credibility and how government support for urban regeneration might be enhanced.

An unusual lithic assemblage from Lunanhead, Angus

In July 1993 the Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust Ltd (SUAT) carried out an extensive field evaluation funded by Historic Scotland in advance of a housing development near Lunanhead, Angus. From the base of a natural depression 28 flint artefacts were recovered. One further piece was retrieved from the topsoil. Although small, this assemblage represents an important find combining evidence of a rare commodity in Scotland: good-quality flint nodules, with technological evidence of a broad blade industry, of which Scotland has few examples to date.

Excavations at 3–11 Main Street, Cumbernauld

Summary The Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust Ltd (SUAT) carried out excavations in advance of a possible infill development on a site located within the historic core of the village of Cumbernauld. Evidence of some 300–400 years of activity dating from the post-medieval period was uncovered with some residual finds from the medieval period. The excavations were jointly funded by the Cumbernauld Development Corporation and Historic Scotland.

Recent Writing on Scottish Urban History Since 1707

Recent Writing on Scottish Urban History Since 1707

Assimilation and Identity in Modern Scottish History - Experience and Enlightenment: Socialization for Cultural Change in Eighteenth-Century Scotland. By Charles Camic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Pp. x + 299. $25.00 (cloth). - Scottish Urban History. Edited by George Gordon and Brian Dicks. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1983. Pp. x + 160. $25.00/£14.00 (cloth). - Perspectives of the Scottish

Assimilation and Identity in Modern Scottish History - Experience and Enlightenment: Socialization for Cultural Change in Eighteenth-Century Scotland. By Charles Camic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. Pp. x + 299. 34.25 (cloth). - Volume 25 Issue 1

Archaeological Work in Lanark 1979

Summary Four areas of archaeological interest within the medieval burgh of Lanark were examined in advance of redevelopment by the Urban Archaeological Unit (now Scottish Urban Archaeological Trust). The medieval deposits were poorly preserved, but the excavations did suggest when the focus of the town shifted from the Castlegate to a High Street axis.

Gordon, George and Brian Dicks, eds. Scottish Urban History

Gordon, George and Brian Dicks, eds. <i>Scottish Urban History</i>

Book Review: Scottish Urban History edited by GEORGE GORDON and BRIAN DiCKs. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. 1983. pp.281. £14.00 Glasgow: The Making of a City by ANDREW GIBB. London: Croom Helm. 1983. pp. 197. £12.95

Book Review: Scottish Urban History edited by GEORGE GORDON and BRIAN DiCKs. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press. 1983. pp.281. £14.00 Glasgow: The Making of a City by ANDREW GIBB. London: Croom Helm. 1983. pp. 197. £12.95

Gordon, George and Dicks, Brian (eds.), "Scottish Urban History" (Book Review)

Gordon, George and Dicks, Brian (eds.), "Scottish Urban History" (Book Review)