Leader comment: Scotland's coolest city just keeps winning plaudits

Suddenly Dundee is cool. And it's not just Dundonians or even Scots who are saying it, but the rest of the world.

Dundee should puff out its chest a bit like Desperate Dan (Picture: Ian Rutherford)

Within just a few months, The Wall Street Journal has described it as Scotland’s “coolest city” and one of the top ten places in the world to visit in 2018, Bloomberg included it on a list of the 22 best global tourist destinations – alongside St Kitts in the Caribbean, Patagonia, and cities like Florence, Los Angeles and Copenhagen – and now Lonely Planet has chosen Dundee as one of its top European destinations. No other UK city made the list.

Dundee councillor John Alexander revealed the council was halfway through a 30-year masterplan. But, if it’s already getting this kind of recognition, can things actually get even better over the next 15 years?

There might be a temptation for Scotland’s other cities to get a bit jealous about all the attention Dundee has been getting. But it might be worth having a look at that masterplan to see if there are ideas worth pinching. And if Scotland could find a way to get half the buzz that Dundee is currently attracting our ailing economy would surely benefit.