BRIDGING CULTURE AND REGENERATION SURF SEMINAR 5 NOVEMBER 2014 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

BRIDGING CULTURE AND REGENERATION

SURF SEMINAR – 5 NOVEMBER 2014 Stewart Murdoch Director, Leisure and Communities Dundee City Council

The Metaphor

This part of the world is characterised by impressive bridges. Dundee itself has a number of iconic bridges, each of which, in different ways, tells us something about culture and regeneration.

Linlathen Bridge (circa 1796)

The First Tay Rail Bridge designed by Bouch (1878)

Dundee Bridges

• These bridges were designed to take you somewhere.
• The huge capital investment involved is offset against

future economic gain.

• At different points in history, it was either private

finance or the public sector that financed bridge- building.

• And, at different points in time, crossing these bridges

has either been underwritten by philanthropy, the public purse or paid for by the user.

The Hird Bridge, Balgay Park (1879)

Dundee Bridges

They bear testament to:

• Wealth;
• Ambition;
• Economic ambition;
• Triumph of engineering, material science and

construction;

• The Victorian desire to dominate nature.

The Second Tay Rail Bridge (1887)

Bridging Culture and Regeneration

• We are talking about bridging cultural led

regeneration and area based regeneration.

• Regeneration has been focused on large scale

physical.

• Large scale, iconic cultural projects.

Dundee as a Case Study

• Long term investment in cultural led regeneration to create

institutions and organisations which changed the image that the city had of itself or that it projected.

• Not a new phenomenon.
• Aspiration to build civic pride.
• Evidence of competition between the philanthropists and a

desire to leave their mark on the build environment.

• Awareness of the intrinsic worth of cultural life.

The Tay Road Bridge 1966

In the last 20 years …

Two separate stories of development in Dundee:

• Community Regeneration
• Cultural (led) Regeneration

Community Regeneration

• Dundee has a long and proud tradition of community

activism.

• Over the ‘70s and ‘80s the local authority became

increasingly alienated from its citizens.

• The Dundee Partnership was formed in 1982.
• In 1995/96 the formation of a new unitary council

created the opportunity to build new relationships.

Community Regeneration – New Relationships

• Decentralisation Strategy, Area Regeneration

Strategy, formation of neighbourhood representative structures, and commitment to devolved decision-making.

• Community Regeneration Forums have devolved

decision-making over significant budgets.

• Social Enterprise Development Board and Asset

Transfer Strategy.

Cultural (led) Regeneration

• Consistent investment in the city’s cultural

infrastructure and organisations which form the basis of its cultural sector.

• Maintenance of a network of neighbourhood

libraries – Central Library redeveloped in 1995/96.

• RRS Discovery returned to Dundee in 1986 and

the Discovery Point visitor centre opened in 1992.

Cultural (led) Regeneration – Cultural Quarter

• Agreement in 1995 for development of Cultural

Quarter in area around Dundee University campus.

• Significant investment in Dundee Rep Theatre.
• Creation of Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre (DCA).
• Built on vibrancy brought by students choosing to

study in the City.

• Created a distinct identity for this part of the city.

Cultural (led) Regeneration – Citywide

The need to broaden cultural regeneration across the city became increasingly important. Developments in the last decade include:

• Scottish School of Contemporary Dance;
• Building of The Space;
• Development of Gardyne Campus;
• Redevelopment of The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum;
• In 2009 – commitment from V&A to build first physical gallery outwith

London at the heart of Dundee’s Waterfront Regeneration Project.

Cultural (led) Regeneration - Progress

• Base of provision in Dundee very strong for a relatively small city.
• This foundation allowed an exceptionally strong bid to become UK

City of Culture in 2017.

• Public engagement strategy – www.wedundee.com
• October 2014 – Trinity Mirror News Agency places Dundee 5th for

cultural offer in league of UK cities with population of over 50,000.

• Dundee’s strategy plays to its strong design heritage.

The Proposed Seabraes Pedestrian Bridge (2015)

Why do we need New Bridges?

• Still a huge gulf between communities in Dundee

characterised as areas of deprivation and those which enjoy a high quality of cultural life.

• Also a need for bridges between Dundee

economy and other parts of Scotland.

• Despite excellent cultural offer in Dundee, the

city still faces high levels of unemployment, poor health, drug related deaths, incarceration, looked after children and poor educational outcomes.

Dundee’s Ambition

• Dundee today has the ambition to address many
• f those things which were evident when the

iconic bridges of the past were created.

• We are much clearer about the evidence of what

works and what doesn’t.

• Dundee is committed to taking its future strategy

forward with the close involvement of its citizens and, as it did 200 years ago, is reaching out to the world.