Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland, UK 作者：  来源：  发布时间：2021-07-29

I. Population and Area

Continent: Europe

Country: The U.K

State/Province: Scotland

City/Town: Livingston, West Lothian

Total Area: 9.96 (sq mi)

Population in 2018: 57.03 (thousand）

Reference Website:

https://www.google.com.hk/search?newwindow=1&safe=strict&ei=1K6HX6-HOYzb-gTUnKugCQ&q=total+area+of++Livingston%2C++West+Lothian&oq=total+area+of++Livingston%2C++West+Lothian&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQA1Ctw-sBWK3D6wFgtcTrAWgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKABAqABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwivweLbwbXsAhWMrZ4KHVTOCpQQ4dUDCA0&uact=5

II. Natural Geography (environment and resources)

Geography

Livingston is the 8th largest settlement and the 3rd largest town in Scotland, it is also the 171st largest settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies 30 miles away from Glasgow and 15 miles from Edinburgh. It has the River Almond flowing through the town centre which is what the old Almondvale Centre was named after.

Road

Livingston has excellent connections to the central Scotland road network. The M8 bounds Livingston in the north. The A899 dual carriageway spine road passes north south along Livingston's eastern edge and connects the M8 in the north to the A71 in the south and has the A89 to the west.

Buses

Livingston has a central bus terminal located on Almondvale Avenue between the two shopping centres in the town centre. This provides regular services to surrounding towns and villages. First Scotland East and Lothian Country Buses are the main bus operator in Livingston, other operators include E&M Horsburgh, Blue Bus, SD Travel and Stagecoach. Livingston has buses to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Lanark, Fife, Falkirk and most West Lothian towns and villages. There are 7 stances at the bus terminal.

Walking / cycling

Livingston has an excellent 'core path network' which is shared use, and available to pedestrians, and cyclists. It connects all of the main areas of the town with shopping, and work areas. It is for the most part 'off-road', and uses an extensive network of under/over pass systems to keep pedestrians and cyclists away from motorised traffic.

Rail

Livingston has three railway stations; Livingston North, Livingston South and Uphall Station. Livingston North is located adjacent to the Carmondean Shopping Centre between Eliburn and Deans and is on the North Clyde Line and with the completion of the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link, on 12 December 2010 Livingston North is now served by trains running to Glasgow Queen Street and Airdrie. Livingston South is located at the Murieston Shops and is on the Shotts Line and has trains running between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley via Shotts.

Airports

Livingston is 6.9 miles (11.1 km) west of Edinburgh Airport and 35.5 miles (57.1 km) east of Glasgow Airport both of which have regular flights to British and international destinations.

III. Economy

Average Salary in Livingston, Scotland: West Lothian       £26k

The average salary in Livingston, Scotland: West Lothian is £26k. Trends in wages decreased by -100.0 percent in Q3 2020. The cost of living in Livingston, Scotland: West Lothian is 100 percent higher than the national average. The most popular occupations in Livingston, Scotland: West Lothian are Design Engineer, Finance Manager, and Human Resources (HR) Administrator which pay between £18k and £41k per year. The most popular employers in Livingston, Scotland: West Lothian are Sky plc, Atos Origin, and East Lothian Council.

The report found that the UK economy is in the midst of the most severe economic downturn in modern times with the lockdown and social distancing having curtailed the ability of businesses to operate. They also state that a full return of activity is unlikely until a vaccine or effective treatments are available for COVID-19.

The report looks at all areas in the UK and West Lothian is the least affected area in Scotland in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA). In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy.  GVA is regarded as a very important measure, because it is used to determine gross domestic product (GDP).

Leader of West Lothian Council Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: "KPMG are a well-respected organisation and have looked at a number of sectors. The report can't be described as being positive overall because we are looking at the most severe economic downturn in modern times, however we are of course satisfied that West Lothian is in a positive position in comparison to all other areas in Scotland."

Reference Website:

https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Location=Norwich-England%3A-Norfolk/Salary

https://news.westlothian.gov.uk/article/63945/West-Lothian-least-affected-by-Economic-downturn

IV. Industrial Characterisitics

Major industries:

The area where Livingston now sits was historically dominated by oil shale mining, which is evident from the bings which still exist on much of the surrounding landscape. The designation of Livingston in the 1960s attracted new light industries to the area, with high technology and pharmaceutical companies moving into the town. Livingston formed a major hub in Scotland's Silicon Glen. Like most other areas this went into a slow decline with the closures of companies including Motorola and NEC. Several multi-national companies still have factories in the town. Sky UK is the largest private sector employer in West Lothian with a range of offices and contact centres. Other large employers include those in the retail sector and in the health care sector the National Health Service, Q Squared Solutions and Quintiles IMS. Witherby Seamanship, established in 1740, is one of the oldest publishers in the United Kingdom. Their offices and warehouse is located in Livingston.

Major projects and related introductions:

1.Day of Dance

This group will use funds to run a 'Day of Dance' which will comprise of workshops, presentations and networking for dancers and dance groups across Scotland with participants aged 50 and above.

2. Stepping Stones to Wellbeing

This group will deliver bereavement support courses, activities around mental health and financial wellbeing to people in West Lothian who feel isolated or lonely.

Reference Website:

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants?westminsterConstituency=S14000044

V. Attractions

1. Almondell & Calderwood Country Park：

Great place for walking away from the road it has excellent walks for dog lovers children cycling and horse riding stunning visitors centre where you can buy ice cream coffees water tea etc ,toilets are spotless playpsrk for children beside the visitors centre, picnic tables and bbq area.

2. Livingston Designer Outlet：

I have been going to Livingston Designer outlet for a few years now, and I have to say I absolutely love it. It's in a good place, not too hard to find, plenty of road signs. Parking is 50p per hour for indoor parking, which if you ask me, is a bargain for what it is. There's plenty of parking spaces available, and the spaces are easy to find as it's a multi-story car park.

Loads of good bargains, amazing to go to near Christmas (or any time of the year if you fancy a bit of classic retail therapy) Really nice places for food, good range of both fast food places (McDonalds, Subway, KFC) and also good sit down / family restaurants (Chiquito, Harvester etc.) Easy to find way around, and there's plenty of choice as there's another shopping centre right next to it. Would highly recommend visiting

3. Almond Valley Heritage Centre：

A family-friendly museum on a peaceful riverside site with friendly farm animals, working watermill and interactive displays. Explore fields and woodland walks, join in daily demonstrations and activities, and let the kids go wild in playgrounds, pedal carts and trampolines. Take a trip by tractor, ride the narrow-gauge railway, explore the museum, or bounce around in the indoor soft play area. There is lots to see and do at Almond Valley indoors and out.

Reference Website:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g551897-Activities-Livingston_West_Lothian_Scotland.html

VI. History

Before 1962

The area around Livingston was previously an important shale oil area, the world's first oil boom occurred in West Lothian. This was based on oil extracted from shale, and by 1870 over 3 million tons of shale were being mined each year in the area around Livingston. Output declined with the discovery of liquid oil reserves around the world in the early 1900s, but shale mining only finally ceased in 1962. The "bings" that characterise oil shale mining in West Lothian have largely been flattened. Two shale bings nearby are scheduled monuments - Five Sisters and Greendykes, Broxburn. In 1898 Livingston had several houses, a Church of Scotland church, a United Free church and a school. Around 1 mile north of Livingston there was a railway station in a settlement called Livingston Station which is now part of Deans. The old part of Livingston is now called Livingston Village.

New Town

Livingston was built as part of the New Towns Act of 1946, in part to ease overcrowding in Glasgow. Livingston was the fourth new town of five. The others were East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld and Irvine. Livingston was designated as a New Town on 16 April 1962.The first people moved into Livingston in April 1966. Three villages (Livingston Village and Livingston Station in the old parish of Livingston and Bellsquarry in the parish of Mid Calder) and numerous farmsteads remain islands of old buildings within the new developments. In 1984 Livingston gained its first railway station on the Shotts Line called Livingston South which was followed by Livingston North on the Edinburgh to Bathgate Line in 1986. These stations replaced the former Livingston and Newpark stations which had closed before the construction of the town. In 1995 Livingston gained its professional football team, Livingston F.C. which was essentially the relocation of Meadowbank Thistle F.C. from Edinburgh.

Livingston Development Corporation

In order to build, manage and promote Livingston a quango organisation was formed, the Livingston Development Corporation. Sir David Lowe a local large scale farmer and businessman was appointed chairman.The first tenants to be housed by 1964. The corporation guided Livingston until its mandate expired on 22 March 1997 and the town was transferred to West Lothian Council. The last major construction operation carried out by the LDC was the Almondvale Stadium. Construction in Livingston has continued under the management of West Lothian Council.

VII. Culture

Youth activities

Livingston has its own Air Training Corps squadron, 2535 (Livingston) Squadron (located in Craigshill) and Army Cadet Force unit (based at Dedridge). The town also has Cubs, Scouts, Boys' Brigade, Brownies and Guides units, and other organisations such as LGBT Youth Scotland and the Youth Action Project (WLYAP), and Firefly Youth Theatre (formerly West Lothian Youth Theatre) also operate in the area. The youth action project involves a music session and many gigs and is widely attended by many teenagers from the surrounding area. A leisure swimming pool and a Multiplex cinema are located in the town centre. The Livingston Skatepark opened in 1981, at a time when most commercial skateparks were closing and was one of the most important facilities in Britain during a critical period in the development of skateboarding. It is an example of a free, unsupervised facility which achieved international status.

Sports

The town has a local cricket club, Livingston Cricket Club, a rugby union club, Livingston Rugby Football Club, a professional football club, Livingston F.C., and a junior football club, Livingston United. Livingston is also home to; two competitive swimming clubs, the Livingston & District Dolphins and the Aquanauts of Livingston; Livingston and West Lothian Hockey Club, which has several men's and women's teams and provides junior coaching; West Lothian Wolves Basketball Club, with men and women's teams at all age groups and two track and field athletics clubs Livingston & District AAC, and Lothian RC. Livingston also has a number of youth football teams with the most successful being Murieston United who have teams ranging from the ages of under 9s to under 21s. They have some notable former players: Scott Arfield, Chris Innes, Derek Fleming and Gary Wales.

Livingston FC

Livingston F.C., known to locals as "Livi" or "The Lions", are the most notable football team in the town. They were formed in 1995 on the relocation of Edinburgh-based side Meadowbank Thistle. The stadium opened in November 1995, but the Livingston name had already been adopted some months earlier when the club was still playing at its former home Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh.

 Although they were playing in the Scottish Third Division in their first season in Livingston, six years later the club was promoted to the Scottish Premier League, finished third in their first season and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Relegation to the Scottish First Division in 2006 came after the club entered administration in 2004 as well as other financial problems. In 2009 they narrowly avoided going out of business and as a result were placed back in the Third Division. The Lions managed to gain promotion to the Scottish Second Division the following year, and returned to the First Division after back to back league championships, on 6 August 2011. They currently compete in the top tier of Scottish Football (Ladbrokes Premiership)

VIII. Other information

Livingston has three major shopping centres, and another three medium large retail parks and a cluster of small local stores located throughout the different areas.

 The first phase of the Livingston's shopping centres was completed in 1976 to facilitate the needs of the local residents and workers at The centre; known as the "Livingston Centre" at that point. The first major refurbishment was completed in 1988 by Land Securities. The centre was extended by 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m2) in 1996, creating phase 2 of the already very successful development, bringing the size of the centre to over 550,000 sq ft (51,000 m2). It was then renamed "The Almondvale Centre"

In early 1999, construction started on phase 3 of the development with the construction of McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Centre, (now renamed to Livingston Designer Outlet in 2007) and was opened in October 2000, with other work continuing into 2001. This development opened up over eighty new shops, twenty bars and restaurants, a fitness suite, 4,000 new car parking spaces and an eight-screen Vue Cinemas cinema complex. In early 2007, another fifteen shops were constructed within the centre replacing the "At home" area. Many businesses within this unit never re-opened in a new single unit. During this time, Asda constructed a new supercentre at the other end of the shopping centre in place of the old Woolco store (which had also been used as a Gateway hypermarket before Asda acquired the firm in late-1989). This Asda supercentre is one of the largest Asda stores in Scotland, along with the Edinburgh and Bridge of Dee, Aberdeen supercentres.

Phase 4 of the development started in March 2007 which saw the old Safeway, (which had ceased trading since Morrisons built their new store in October 2005) demolished along with its car park. The car park between Almondvale Shopping Centre and the Designer Outlet was also removed. In its place, the new development was constructed until it opened in October 2008. Phase 4 was originally intended to be called 'The Elements', however Land Securities changed the name of it and the older centre to 'the centre' in time for the new centre being completed in October 2008.

The centre contains 35 shop units, with Marks & Spencer and Debenhams as anchor stores. Within this development, there will be social areas, bars, restaurants and a Winter Garden, bringing the Almondvale Centre Development to over a million sq. ft. The old Safeway car park has been developed into a three-storey car park providing another free 1,500 spaces, with a state-of-the-art security system.

IX. Contact information

Mayor/Officer: Tom Conn

Tel: 01506 281759

Mail: Tom.Conn@westlothian.gov.uk

Reference Website:

https://westlothian.gov.uk/article/33897/Councillor-Tom-Conn