Dundee City Council development director Mike Galloway has said Dundee’s economy is on the brink of an economic resurgence equivalent to Aberdeen’s oil boom in the 1970s.
Mr Galloway told the Business Tourism Conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday that the £1 billion waterfront development is helping to transform the city’s economy along with growth in the life sciences, renewables and digital media sectors.
He said: “We are seeing a real resurgence in our economy. It is the equivalent for Dundee that the oil boom was to Aberdeen that we are going to experience in the next 15-20 years it really is that big a change for our city.
“We’ve studied what happened in Bilbao over the last 15 years and it is amazing how many similarities there are between the two cities. They decided to completely change their economic base.
“The growth areas in Bilbao have not just been in traditional tourism areas. There has been incredible growth in terms of computer and IT related areas, research and development and basic business activities. That gives us great cause for encouragement.”
Mr Galloway added that the V&A is on track to open in 2017 and that the waterfront redevelopment is expected to create around 7,000 jobs.
“I’m not sure people are aware of the scale ambition that is under way Dundee. The waterfront project is a £1 billion investment, one of the largest regeneration projects in the UK, stretching eight kilometres along the north side of the Tay estuary. It’s a huge step foward for Dundee,” he said.
Philip Long, director of the V&A at Dundee, added: “It is a demonstrable fact as has happened with Bilbao, Liverpool and Newcastle-Gateshead that investment in culture and cultural regeneration generates new civic pride, changes perceptions and develops new interest.
“The city’s ambition now is an unprecedented one in its history. At the heart of V&A Dundee is to be an inspirational new presence in the city, but with a Scotland-wide mission to be something that is going to make a difference to the country overall.”