Fears for the future of the Edinburgh World Heritage site have been expressed in a public consultation.

On Monday, Edinburgh City Council revealed it received almost 600 responses as part of the survey over the status of the area in the old and new towns.

It detailed concerns about new developments and the maintenance of streets.

The study came on the back of inspectors for Unesco raising concerns about proposed city centre developments putting Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site status at risk.

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The results of the consultation were released, with the 588 respondents asked to score out of seven several aspects of the management of the sites, which are run by Edinburgh City Council, Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland.

In terms of “contribution of new developments to city centre”, those who responded gave it a score of two out of seven.

Particular concerns included the “need for better standards of architecture for new developments” and “new developments are not seen to be in keeping with the old and new towns architectural context”.

Respondents also gave the current site managers three out of seven for “care and maintenance of buildings and streets”.

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This included issues with “too much street clutter” and “over-commercialisation of public spaces (eg Princes Street Gardens, St Andrew Square).”

Edinburgh’s new and old towns scored six out of seven for “livability”, with it being described as “a very liveable city where people live/work and visit”.

“Identity and belonging” recorded five out of seven, with a “strong feeling of pride and sense of place” noted by respondents.

Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: “We have received some very clear feedback, confirming our observations, and now we, together with our partners, need to act on it.

“The more people who get involved with the new management plan, the better the protection for our incredible world heritage site.

“I’d encourage everyone to take a look at the new draft plan when it is published in March and let us know what you think. Edinburgh’s world heritage site belongs to everyone.”

In February, the UK branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises Unesco on world heritage sites, expressed concerns over “unsympathetic” planned developments in the city.

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These included hotel plans for the old Royal High School site at Calton Hill and the £850m revamp of the St James Centre.

The city’s old and new towns have held the status since 1995 and are among six world heritage sites in Scotland.

On the publication of the consultation’s findings, Edinburgh City Council planning convener Ian Perry said: “Our World Heritage Site is of crucial importance to the future vision and development of the city.

“I would like to thank everyone who gave us their feedback during the consultation period as residents’ views will now help us to ensure that the site continues to be well managed and is of universal importance.

“The survey showed that Edinburgh continues to be an attractive place for people to live and work in and that engenders a strong sense of identity and belonging, which is encouraging.”

Director of heritage at Historic Environment Scotland Barbara Cummins said: “I would like to repeat my thanks to all of the many people who took the time to engage with the consultation.

“Now begins the process of making sense of that feedback and how it should be incorporated into the new document.

“The end result will be that we have a management plan which reflects the needs of the built heritage, and the people who live, work, visit and look after it.”