JIM SPENCE: How Dundee can breathe life back into its city centre.

We need to make the town core an appealing location to live while also meeting the demands of its residents. I’ve heard Aberdonians criticise Dundee’s recent progress.

I went at Granite City last week, and the previous splendour of Union Street were long gone, while Union Terrace Gardens appeared neglected and unloved.

Aberdeen’s main street is worn and a long cry from the fashionable and lively boulevard of the past. However, while Dundee has made significant progress in recent years, much more needs to be done to revitalise the city.

I recently had a long talk with a friend who is well-versed in planning and architecture, and some of his ideas and proposals for reviving life in Dundee’s city core made perfect sense.

For starters, we need to entice more people back to live in the centre, but this will not be easy and will necessitate substantial planning and investment.

On my travels covering football for the BBC, I was always struck by how densely inhabited the European cities we stayed in were in their inner districts.

‘Dundee is like a ghost town at night’

In comparison, Dundee looks like a ghost town at night. The first step is to discover a means to transform empty shop units and spaces into suitable residential areas that will attract people of all ages who want to live more centrally.

Finding a method to repurpose buildings such as the now-empty Marks & Spencer shop on Murraygate, which has left a gaping hole in the roadway, is critical. Finding a solution for the Wellgate Centre must be a top priority.

I believe that Dundee’s population is insufficient to support two major shopping malls, and the Overgate is far and away the better and more appealing of the two.

Dundee needs a solution for the Wellgate

Either we pursue the recent suggestion of relocating Dundee and Angus College into the Wellgate, which would bring major football into the town during the day while also allowing night classes to be taught and bringing life into the centre at night, or we demolish the centre and build housing there, reconnecting it as a thoroughfare to the Hilltown, as it once did with the old Wellgate.

In a nod to the past, we could always commission a design for a new set of Wellgate steps at the foot of the Hilltown as an architectural feature.

We need to make the town core a desirable location to live that meets the demands of its residents.

Cafés, taverns, stores, and entertainment venues all require assistance and encouragement to thrive and make the city centre a place where people of all ages want to stay.

Small businesses need a chance to become sustainable

One option we might consider is a two or three-year rate amnesty for small enterprises, which would allow them to expand and establish themselves for a long-term, sustainable future.

Too many small business owners work hard and invest their time and funds in their companies just to give up after a short period in an unequal conflict with exorbitantly high rates and associated expenditures.

We also need to think creatively about access to the city centre, and if increased car access or car-free spaces are preferable options.

I believe that the younger generation, and likely future generations, are less car-oriented than mine and earlier generations, thus we should plan for more bike use.

Out-of-town retail parks have a ‘deleterious impact on the centre’

We’ve gone too far with out-of-town shopping. If we are serious about regenerating our city centre, we must limit planning approval for out-of-town stores, which have had a significant negative influence on the centre.

There are other small supplementary items that might benefit a revitalised hub. What about providing entertainment, like we used to do with pipe bands in City Square?

Furthermore, we must guarantee that shopkeepers and tenants learn civic pride in simple but crucial tasks such as maintaining windows, gardens, and public places nice and clean.

One of the first things I observed when abroad was cleaning crews hosing down pavements, maintaining a clean and respectable appearance for both visitors and locals.

Too often, our streets become a wilderness of discarded chewing gum, cigarettes, and waste paper.

A fee on online purchasing to assist make city centre retailers more economically viable is something that, while admittedly outside the capabilities of the local council, should be strongly campaigned for by the government.

Giant out-of-town warehouses that serve our every need with the click of a cell phone have had a massively damaging impact on the social and economic environments of Dundee and other city centres.

If we’re serious about revitalising our cities and towns, they should contribute their fair part.

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