Skateboarder, Block 74, Wester Hailes Drive

Category

Library Item

Item no

19877

Title

Skateboarder, Block 74, Wester Hailes Drive

Description

A teenage boy holds his hands in the air as he stands on a skateboard balanced on top of a pipe. Looking between the boy's feet, a couple more boys with skateboards can be seen sitting on the far end of the pipe. The pipe borders the edge of a grassy area in front of a large block of flats and a car park where there are a couple of parked cars.

Artist / maker

Walsh, Kevin

Date

1992

Size

20.3 x 25.4 cm

Type

Photograph

Wester Hailes, located on the western periphery of Edinburgh, is a post-war housing estate constructed between 1969 and 1975. On completion, the housing stock comprised a mixture of tenements and high rise. Wester Hailes possessed a declining population with a high proportion of single parent and low income households, high unemployment and a high turnover of tenancies. It was one of four peripheral housing estates chosen to take part in the New Life for Urban Scotland Initiative in 1988. The initiative and the partnerships that they generated were expected to provide valuable lessons on how to tackle the social, economic and environmental problems of large urban distressed areas. The area was extensively redeveloped during the 1990s and 2000s with a number of initiatives outlined by the Wester Hailes Partnership. These initiatives covered housing and environmental improvement, the improvement of social facilities, the provision of training opportunities and the promotion of community activities and involvement. Housing and environmental improvements have had a visible impact with a large number of properties being renovated and others being demolished and replaced with newer 'low-rise' housing.

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Related subjects

Homes > Residential buildings > Flats

People > Children > Boys

Places > Edinburgh areas > Wester Hailes

Plants > Trees > Trees

Sport and leisure > Activities > Skateboarding

Transport > Infrastructure > Car parks

Transport > Land > Cars