We Dundee

Reimagine Dundee.
What needs to
happen next?

We are living through extraordinary times. Reimagining our city’s future needs to involve us all. We Dundee is here to put the voices of people at the heart of that conversation.

The global Covid-19 crisis has shaped our experiences. The responses below are what people wanted to happen next. The things they would hold on to and what they would radically change for now and for our future generations.

Read more about We Dundee

View the answers to the previous question ›

Give graduates a reason to stay in Dundee. A lot of our best and brightest graduates leave to work elsewhere!
The people are the sunshine of the city
Council to work towards an aesthetic litter-free Dundee across all postcodes, not just the seafront.
More support for small local businesses Popups in empty retail units A visitor information centre outside the train station instead of empty units City wide festival of culture
Cafes should stay open until later so that people can have more options of places to hang out later in the day other than bars. Alcohol culture is not for everyone.
Wildlife needs to be prioritised more. Already with the ease of lockdown long grass and flowers have been mown, which had previously been great spots for pollinators. This needs to change.
Keep being kind to one another. We've got a while to go yet.
Stop shaming people for being on benefits/universal credit. If we want universal basic income we have to first remove the stigma around receiving state support, especially on a long-term basis.
A CITY THAT TAKES MORE RISKS
Just because it's the way it's always been done, doesn't mean it's right. We need to work together to challenge and change the systems that restrict and maniupulate us.
Turn the City Quay into a hub for food, nightlife, vintage markets, artist studios. It's a fab location not fulfilling its full potential!
More space to cycle and walk, more events in public space and more wilderness in the city Get people outside and connected
Retain the small positives of Covid-19: Keep Union Street car-free. Allow other streets to join in. Create more cycle lanes. Force cars into the multi-storeys.
Celebrate the selfless people who gave their time to make peoples lives that little bit less mundane in lockdown!
More low-cost housing in the city! New builds lately are all so-called luxury apartments... it's not "luxury" if they're built to the same standard as any modern home, it's just overpriced!
Make Dundee Scotlands most innovative risk-taking cycle-friendly city!
Build properly segregated cycle lanes so I can commute to town safely.
More guerrilla gardens around the bottoms of street trees and waste spaces.
Culture 👏 jobs 👏 that 👏 pay 👏 enough 👏 to 👏 live 👏 on 👏
Loving the murals and paintings- more please!
Keep being green! Let wildlife in thrive again!
More help for disadvantaged people instead of **** like this.
The design community in Dundee feels so cliquey. Why do all Dundee projects seem to go to the same people over and over, when there are a diverse range of DJCAD students desperate for opportunities?
I'd like to see new connections created between folk who live and work in Dundee and those who live work in the rural areas that surround the City so that we can build a truely local green recovery.
Resident's Parking Scheme!
NAE NAZIS IN DUNDEE
Better use of outdoor spaces! Pedestrianised roads with outdoor seating for cafes, restaurants and pubs (with awnings and heaters for chilly days) taking priority over cars.
Let's create more outside spaces for pavement bars & cafés. Let's close some streets, widen pavements & encourage local businesses & artists to collaborate to make those spaces incredible!
Pedestranise city centre, bikes, empty shops into artists studios, libraries & affordable housing in town, small business not big chains, decent exhibits at V&A, local musicians Mary slessor gardens
Finish the train station. Clean up your dog poo. Pick up more litter. Ban the gulls.
Dancing in the streets
Everything open past normal 'working hours'
Be anti-racist Be anti-homophobic Be anti-ableist Be anti-transphobic Be anti-classist. The list goes on. We need to be actively fighting for everybody in Dundee, not just people we can see.
Fewer single-occupancy car journeys. And an infrastucture that encourages that.
More social hubs. And more exposure for them.
• Good cycling infrastructure making it a safe viable option • Re-think streets to allocate more space to non-car users • Proper supports that prioritise local business vs multinationals
Convert* unused land for growing food to feed our city. Retrofit* empty office blocks for affordable housing. Re-purpose* vacant retail spaces for creative learning. *= Rewarding careers.
Sustainability with Access and equality at the heart. More disabled,D/deaf And neurodiverse lead initiatives for disabled creatives
Turn Wellgate into a mall dedicated to selling REPAIRED, RECYCLED & RESTORED secondhand bits and bobs
Restore Dundee street festival. Use all our green spaces esp Camperdown & Slessor Gardens for outdoor markets and family friendly events/ festivals Drop business rates to rejuvenate city centre areas
More usable outdoor space for indie businesses - less Wetherspoons!
Grants for small businesses/artist collectives to run pop-ups in empty shop units. Make it easy for artists to flourish.
A scheme recognising the venues that actually pay and/or support local artists
DUNDEE, TILL I SEE U NEXT I NEED TO SAY A FEW THINGS... DON'T BE AFRAID OF CHANGE. U HAVE A VOICE. USE IT. CURIOSITY IS A SUPERPOWER. WASH UR HANDS. WEAR A MASK. DON'T BE A DICK. LUV U PAL.
Create an economy that values wellbeing, health, and the environment. Not GDP. Not unsustainable growth. Not exuberant wealth.
Develop the creative industries within Dundee. For a city that has two universities with numerous art and design courses, we are lacking in jobs and opportunities within the creative industries.
SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC AND (MORE) SPACES WHERE LIVE MUSIC HAPPENS
Alternatives to the pubs! Incentives for small businesses to take up empty lots in the city centre, inc workshops & places to learn a new skill as well as late night coffee shops.
Pedestrianise Reform St. Turn the road into outdoor seating for cafes & music nights. Set up benches, turf & flower beds to create nice seating or family play areas.
Just like the #DundeeSunGlasses 😎 We should have #DundeeReuseableBags 👜 To cut plastic bag waste... since lockdown, plastic bag usage has shot up! ☹️ LETS THINK GREEN
More assistance that enables small businesses to open and flourish in empty shops/vacant spaces - especially those that prioritise creativity, community, and local economy.
Genuinely support neurodiversity in education, employment, health, and all services and spaces.
Keep up the slower pace of life from the start of lockdown less rush, less stress
Make it easy for businesses to be creative.
A clean, green city that puts its people at the heart of decisions... fairness, equality, respect and creativity for all!
We've learnt to appreciate what matters-good company, creativity and the outdoors. Recovery needs an emphasis on our oneness with each other, with creation and creativity will help this.
Further recognition of the contributions BIPoC have made to the City, and to actively celebrate them in Dundee's past, present and future.
Environmental sustainability at the heart of every decision
JAM & JUTE & JOURNALISM & JUSTICE
more mutual aid organising
HUGS. LOTS OF HUGS.
Remember that the city is more than just the City Centre. The surrounding areas are in dire economic and social troubles with much of the expenditure offering no solutions to those people.
Stop the age limit to apprenticeships. Give everyone the opportunity to gain one.
Better waste system. More recycling and greens bins, every house should have a designated one. More awareness about not littering. Keep the city clean.
Take part in a guided history tour and learn interesting stuff.
Engage the schemes in the cultural development of Dundee. Art of the people, by the people & for the people. Make the regeneration more than a regeneration of the waterfront.
Use the band stand at Magdalen Green, regularly, for performances by local artists. (with a distancing audience) Especially young people and those who aren't already performing professionally.
Make the arts accessible for all Turn "that's not for me" into "that's now for me"
Plant trees on Reform street, please.
Sustainable food -produced and cooked locally. Events that small children can participate in at a safe distance. Information and support for flexi- and home schooling.
Pick up your dog 💩
Small grants for people with drying lawns to put a greenhouse & invest in planters, compost etc. Future proof post-Brexit food shortages, give people the power to grow their own!
CLEAN THE STREETS
house the homeless 🏠
TRANS RIGHTS!
Make the city square into a social area with cafes/ outside eating as they do in most European cities. Have far more outdoor seating for cafes and bars throughout the city and cultural areas.
Think climate first. Carbon emissions and wildlife.
Turn one of the empty buildings in the city centre into an affordable co-working space. This would provide remote workers with somewhere to work effectively, and bring more footfall into the city.
More cycling friendly routes and connections throughout the WHOLE city.
We need a pumptrack to get more people riding on wheels.
We need to continue to be kinder Dundonians - build community, friendships and infect the city with joy + hope!
More spaces needed for local artists and designers to show their work, indoors and outdoors!
In a healthy cultural ecosystem, each tier of creative production plays a crucial role in the overall ecology and supports one another accordingly. Everything is interconnected & interdependent. MC
Educate people about recycling and littering - organise shared pick up activities and training with incentives in Schools and across Communities.
Encourage local people to move back into the city centre and halt the constant development of suburbs that promote car use and prevent the heart of Dundee from becoming a lively place day and night.
More covered spaces outside where people can get together without getting rained on!
Minimize the awful drugs per capita.
Keep shopping local - supporting local makers and producers and bakeries!
Meet everyone with a smile.
Appreciate the simple things in life: walks, nature, great views, kindness, family/friends, being creative and community
More shops and better quality retail in the city centre.
I would love to see the wildness on the sides of the roads & parks remain.....and maybe even creep a bit further into built up areas.
Goodbye 9 til 5 Hello Flexibility
Give more opportunities to unknown and upcoming local artists for commissions instead of the same people!
council support for the creative arts through cheap + subsidised studio spaces in buildings that are just sitting empty
Remote working means redistributing Big City Jobs to people in Dundee
Support people's use of outdoor space - make it inclusive and welcoming
Invest in apprenticeships for young people and people who are unemployed and aged 40+ - create new work opportunities in trades that are always needed.
This is not a good way to find out what people need. People who are struggling to survive will not be filling out frilly websites. Please support Dundee's efforts to run Peoples Assemblies
JOBS.
More cycle paths to encourage cycling for all
College courses for music and performing arts. Keep and foster talent in Dundee!
More street art! So many blank doorways and walls which could be showcasing local art and history /culture.
Make more of our UNESCO City of Design status - have a design tsar to put design at the heart of everything the city does.
Develop community garden scheme in every area in Dundee planting food & vegetables. Brings the community together and provides healthy , locally grown food .
Less cars, more bikes and beer gardens!
Aim for a circular economy. Both us and our +Dundee Council: work out ways to re-use and re-cycle better, abolish single-use. Do it. Cherish our world.
Outdoor community groups, choirs in the park, plays in the wee ampitheatre. Proper cycle lanes - ALL OVER. Would love more independent shops, selling local produce.
Business units in the arches under the rail bridge. Coffee shops /bakeries/galleries See Bristol for ideas 💡
art and culture orgs need to stop being cliques
Don't go back to the old 'normal'. Have a better work/life balance, spend time in the outdoors, appreciate family
A Food Culture that is healthy, based on local products and brings people together!
Make cycling and walking the easiest choice with safe, segregated, joined up routes.
join a union
Stop building offices which block the view of the V&A; Stop building apartments which block the view of the Tay; Start promoting Dundee's burgeoning art scene and harnessing it's natural beauty!
Repopulate the city centre by converting commercial properties to good-quality, affordable homes for people of all ages.
Raise the profile of local businesses and creatives to encourage people to shop locally.
Cree y crea
Be more Doughnut. Meet the needs of everyone within the means of the planet.
Let's have a massive group snowball fight in the winter!
MORE PUBLIC ART OPPORTUNITIES
A bigger conversation about mental health and suicide prevention. Bring young people together to talk about how best to tackle this city's overwhelming mental health problem.
Homes for everyone. Quirky little shops.Wildflower planting. No drug problems. Regular family events, Farm shops selling their own produce.More Murals. Bike lanes. No cars in city centre.
A weekly market in the city centre for art, food and social connection!
Collbarative effort to try and reduce the amount of litter in the city and surrounding areas. Local authority, education providers and local media could all be involved.
Lets be a bike city with slower roads. Lets see the city from our saddles. Lets share our car parks with bike parks lets feel the wind in our hair!
Be more friendly and kind. Have more neighbourhood activities and shop local to support small businesses
Bringing back all the wonderful events that make Dundee. Flower and Food Festival, bonfire night, Easter in Camperdown, New Year in Town, Events in Slessor Gardens, Christmas in City Centre! Fun
Our future is bright. We just have to grab it!
decolonise dundee's cultural institutions
Stop waiting for systemic change. Make change happen in your community now.
Support local businesses and creatives. More creativity to enhance the spaces we live and work.
More lockdown positives • Cycles, scooters and feet on the streets • Better air quality • More kindness • Letting our planet breathe • Reducing carbon emissions
More cycling, more neighbourhood support, more dogs, more biodiversity. More appreciating family and friends. More love.
The City Square for any DJ and live events. Possible drum and bass event outside.
Support local businesses! Organise weekly food markets! Give space for outdoor sitting cafes, bars etc! More green in the city! Help students settle, find a place to live and a job in Dundee!
A central market for local artists to sell thier art
Increase opportunities for safe, active travel with a larger network of cycle paths and footpaths.
Cafes & shops open later More outdoor seating for bars and restaurants Small independant businesses, artists and designers being able to rent (or get help to rent) empty shop units in the city centre