Although fairly small in territory and population (approximately 2 square miles in area, with three Scottish Government 'data zones' totalling just over 3,000 residents in 2021),[1] many of the wider area's local amenities are based here, owing to it being roughly at a midway point in the land around and between the old villages of Gilmerton and Liberton which was developed with a number of housing schemes between the 1950s and 1970s in response to Edinburgh's need to replace substandard inner-city housing.

[2] Since then, several more private developments of varying sizes and scope have been added, creating a suburban cluster almost separate from the city's main urban area (partly due to the natural boundary of the Braid Hills); since 2007 this has formed the Liberton/Gilmerton ward under the City of Edinburgh Council serving a population of around 37,000 in 2021,[1] a figure that continues to creep upwards due to more housebuilding.

[3] The neighbourhood is based around the grounds of the late-18th century Gracemount House,[4] a Category B listed mansion[5][6] which has become derelict in 2018, having previously been utilised as the local community centre.

A few other country manors have survived in the area, including St Catherine's[7] (now a pub-restaurant) with its 17th-century Balm Well,[8][9] and Southfield House which served as a sanatorium throughout the 20th century; the 1870s Northfield House, latterly a hotel, was already unoccupied and earmarked for demolition as part of a redevelopment but this was hastened in 2023 after arson attacks.

The district's police station is located to the west of the area at Howdenhall,[34] where a children's residential home was also situated until closed in 2023 following multiple reports of abuse by staff.