Many of the shops which used to line the city’s streets have disappeared and some new ones have arrived.
But these fascinating pictures selected from the Evening News archive will transport you back in time and allow you to feel something of the atmosphere of Edinburgh in the early 1970s.
Scroll through these old black and white pictures to conjure up an idea of the city five decades ago.
5. Baird & Starks shoe shop
A boy has his shoe size checked on a Clarks fitting machine at Baird & Starks shoe shop in South Bridge Edinburgh, May 1971. | TSPL Photo: Norman Wilson / Bill Stout
6. John Smith & Co wool shop
The interior of John Smith & Co wool shop - Smith's Wools - in Frederick Street, Edinburgh, in December 1972. | TSPL Photo: Joe Steele
7. Graham Tiso, Rodney Street
Edinburgh mountaineer and rock climber Graham Tiso with a pair of climbing boots, in his shop in Rodney Street in July 1972. | TSPL Photo: Hamish Campbell
8. Shopping by candlelight
Customers had to shop by candlelight during the power cuts of February 1972. | TSPL Photo: George Smith