The inner city has the following characteristics -

• Old factories and houses are mixed in together as they were built during the 19th century when most people walked to work (no cars); there was little open space left between the buildings
• The street pattern is often grid iron
• In Scotland the housing is usually tenements; in England terraced housing (think "Coronation Street")
• Often have empty buildings, derelict land, vandalism, crime, poverty, unemployment and other social and economic problems
• In the last fifty years much redevelopment has taken place in these areas; many high rise multi-storey residential blocks of flats have been built
• As both the houses and factories had chimneys air pollution was a problem; with industrial decline and housing redevelopment this has reduced