Historic areas such as Farme Cross, Bankhead and Gallowflat have changed greatly over the years and the village of Burnside (which falls under the Rutherglen boundary but has its own Community Council) also expanded to share a single suburban settlement with its larger neighbour. More recent post-war developments at Newfield and Burnhill within the older part of town, plus those on the peripheries including Blairbeth, Cathkin, Eastfield, Fernhill, Spittal and Springhall have given the town a frequently changing character. Other than some shopping areas and the large industrial estates in Farme Cross and Shawfield, the neighbourhoods referred to are residential in type; the 1922 book Rutherglen Lore indicates a deliberate intention for the historic Burgh area to be encircled to the south by residential suburbs, while all land to its north would be dedicated to industry, and that remains the case a century later.
