The term "Villa Levingi," which literally means "the town of Livingston," was first used to refer to Livingston in a document published in the early 12th century.

West Lothian, which includes the city of Livingston, had the first oil boom in the world due to its rich shale oil deposits. This was predicated on shale oil, and by 1870, the Livingston area was producing over three million tons of shale annually.

Shale production continued until it was stopped in 1962, despite a decline in output in the early 1990s due to the discovery of liquids worldwide.

This occurred despite the fact that it was finally abandoned in 1962. Smoothing out the so-called "bingos" that had previously defined the shale production process in West Lothian council resulted to significant improvements in production. Nearby Livingston city , you may visit two shale formations that have been designated national monuments: Five Sisters and Greendykes.

A few houses, a mill, a Church of Scotland church, a United Free Church, a school, and a public house were listed as being in the center of Livingston in 1898.

Two places of worship might also be found in this community. Further, there were two churches serving the neighborhood.

The original church building in the city of Livingston was completed in 1732 and is known as Livingston Old Kirk. The church, in its current form, is an exemplar of the plain Presbyterian construction that was typical during the Georgian era.

Quite a few buildings were constructed in this design, which was considered to be modern and chic.

A brand-new metropolis: Livingston New town

16 April 1962. Livingston is considered a "new town" because of the New Towns Act of 1946. Because of the city's excessive population, this measure had to be taken. After Scotland's independence, it established five new towns, with Livingston being the fourth.

The Livingston Development Corporation, sometimes known as the LDC, is a quasi-governmental body that was founded with the aim of developing, managing, and advertising Livingston.

14 000 people were counted as living there during the 1971 census.

Town Livingston achieving city status

In 1984, a brand-new Shotts line train station opened in the community of Livingston South. Livingston South was the official name of the station. After that, in 1986, a new station was built and given the name Livingston North along the renovated Edinburgh-Batgeith line. Both of these stations can be located in Livingston.

In 1980, the LDC owned almost 90% of the city's housing stock; by 1996, due to sales and a rise in the number of private houses, this ratio had reduced to approximately 40%. Prior to March 22, 1997, the Livingston Development Corporation oversaw the town's administration.

In September of 2021, as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Awards program, the local government submitted its application for UK City designation. In 2022, the town celebrated its 60th year as a municipality. The city was eager to get granted city status but its city status bid was rejected.

Geography of Livingston City

Livingston is the third largest town in Scotland and the eighth-most populous in the country. It has a population of 17,170, making it the 171st most populous settlement in the UK.

There are 172 more expansive countries. About 50 kilometers separate you from Glasgow, whereas only about 25 separate you from Edinburgh.

The new town of Livingston, known as Almondvale, got its name because the River Almond was supposed to run right through the heart of its town centre area.

Adambrae and the borough of Kirkton are to the east of the city, and Murieston lies to the south of Bellsquarry. To the south of Bellsquarry is the Brucefield Industrial Area, and to the east of the city is Craigshill. These are the peripheral neighborhoods of Livingston.

The inner city is home to a variety of distinct communities. Areas including:

• Almondvale,
• Livingston Village,
• Eliburn,
• Howden,
• Ladywell,
• Knightsbridge, and
• Dedridge are included in this group.

Hills make up a large part of Livingston's topography; like the rest of West Lothian, they were shaped by glaciers long ago and retain many of their glacial features now.

Before the new town was established, the area was used mostly for farming, with the alluvial soils along the River Almond receiving the bulk of the attention. The region was mostly utilized for agriculture, while some towns, such as Deans, had a minor degree of locally oriented industry.

Economy

The bingos in the area around Livingston are relics from the time when oil shale extraction was a major economic factor in the area. The widespread presence of bingo halls is evidence of this. Livingston's designation as a "new town" in the 1960s aided in the growth of numerous nearby light industries at that time. Such businesses also include those in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields.

As Scotland's first technological scientific park, Kirkton, Livingston skate park, Howden Park centre on the western outskirts of the city and named for the town it was built as was established in the 1960s.

Along the Killandean Burn and the River Almond, on an area of 300 acres, LDC built pristine office and manufacturing space exclusively for private companies.

Shin-Etsu Europe, which has a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Livingston, Schuh, which has its headquarters and customer service center on the Deans Industrial Estate in Livingston, Tesco, which has its Scottish and Northern Ireland distribution center on the northern outskirts of town, and retailers who work in supermarkets, hypermarkets, and the healthcare sector are also major employers in the area.

Brucefield Industrial Estate is west of Bellsquarry and features a wide variety of businesses. ScoMac and Diet Chef are only two examples of food producers in this group (a catering equipment manufacturer).

Located west of Adambrae and close to Livingston, the Alba Business Park is home to a center for technological innovation. Many various businesses call the Alba Business Park in Alba, California, their home.

Town square

On the southeastern edge of the Almond Valley is where you'll find the heart of Livingston. Livingston designer outlet is a shopping, service hub for nearby communities.

Due to its deliberate construction and the presence of a ring road to the east, this urban core stands apart from the bulk of others in the region. Directly to the north of the town center is Howden Park, adjacent to the 18th-century Howden House, which now serves as an arts center as well as private lodging.

In June of 2009, construction on the Livingstone Civic Centre was completed, and on November 25 of that year, then-First Minister Alex Salmond officially opened the structure to the public. The Civic Center is just a short walk north of the Livingston Centre.

It rests on the edge of the Almond River. Long before Police Scotland was created in 2013, this facility housed the Lothian and Borders Police Division.

The West Lothian Community Health and Care Partnership, the Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Children's Reporters' Administration, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service all called this facility their home.

Transport

The A899 is a north-south dual-carriageway that runs along the eastern edge of Livingston and connects to the M8. The A89 runs east-west on the M8's other side. It connects with the A899 further south.

Two major highways, the M8, and the A71 provide access to the rest of the country and the world from Livingston's northern and southern extremities, respectively.

Livingston's central location makes it simple to reach the major highways through the heart of Scotland.