THE collapse of the Caltongate development in the heart of the Old Town should send alarm bells ringing through the Capital.
There will be those who celebrate its demise as the vanquishing of a threat to our built heritage in general and the unique setting of the Royal Mile in particular.
The controversy over whether the £300 million regeneration could have been more se
nsitively designed will continue.
However, the loss of potentially more than 2000 jobs that the project promised to create is an undoubted blow in such tough economic times.
There is perhaps an air of inevitability about another major development grinding to a halt as the recession bites.
Yet serious thought needs to be given to the complaint from the developer, Mountgrange, that the project was fatally wounded by unreasonable delays in the planning system.
It is astonishing to think that the planning process took four years to complete.
It is, of course, vital that there are stringent checks on new buildings proposed for the city's World Heritage Site, but that must surely be possible in a fraction of that time.
Such marathon sessions are in no-one's best interests – not those of the developers looking to invest in the Capital, not those of the cash-strapped council and not those of the communities living with uncertainty hanging over their heads.
A full year before Caltongate project was given the go-ahead, the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce sounded a warning about the signals which the delays were sending out to other developers. It said such "red tape" was scaring off developers who were choosing instead to invest in Glasgow, where a streamlined planing system meant verdicts on major projects were typically reached in six to eight weeks.
Dealing with the level of objections that controversial plans often raise in Edinburgh mean this kind of lightning pace will not be possible.
But the city council should look at the achievements in Glasgow – where council leader Steven Purcell's open door policy is said to be a key part of the process – to see what lessons can be learned.
When the economy begins to recover, it will be more important than ever for the city to be at the top of its game when it comes to attracting new investment. If Edinburgh cannot show that it is open for business, then there are plenty of other cities which will.
