EDINBURGH'S biggest property development in almost a decade is provoking a dispute between the city's politicians and the United Nations over how the medieval center of the Scottish capital should look.
The UN, which has protected the city's Old Town as a World Heritage Site since 1995, is investigating the 300-million-pound (US$552 million) plan to build offices, stores, homes, restaurants and a five-star hotel. The project, called Caltongate, was approved by the Edinburgh city council last month.
"The problem with Caltongate is that it's too big," said James Simpson, an Edinburgh architect and a member of the United Kingdom body that advises the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, on heritage.
Dominated by its towering castle, neo-classical galleries and centuries-old housing, Edinburgh has more protected properties than any other UK city. UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said last month that major developments in the city should be halted pending a study into the impact of the Caltongate project, Bloomberg News said.
The development, the biggest since the 431-million-pound Scottish parliament building, will take up to five years to build and work is due to begin later this year.
The City of Edinburgh Council plans to push ahead. "We couldn't possibly put everything on hold until UNESCO reports back," said Jim Lowrie, convener of the municipality's planning committee.
Under the plans, Caltongate will be located on the north side of the Royal Mile, the street that runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and includes 500-year-old 10-story apartment blocks, some of the first of their kind in the world.
Local opposition to the project has been led by conservation groups who claim the new structures will change the character of Edinburgh, Scotland's capital since 1437.
Some also object to the project in a city reliant on tourism which accounts for 31,000 jobs among a total population of 450,000.
"It destroys the goose that lays the golden egg if we lose world heritage status," said Julie Logan, a chartered town planner and urban designer.
John Swinney, minister for finance and sustainable growth, said in June that the government would not intervene to stop Caltongate's application.