City Centre Living in the Uk Max Nathan and Chris Urwin Dundee Briefing

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CITY PEOPLE: CITY CENTRE LIVING IN THE UK MAX NATHAN AND CHRIS URWIN

DUNDEE BRIEFING

Introduction Dundee is a small city that is starting to develop a significant city centre housing market of its own, inspired by the success of bigger cities. With over 2,900 people in the city centre, is one of many emerging markets around the UK.

Dundee is the fourth largest city in Scotland. A major regional centre, it has undergone major change s in the past few decades. It is starting to develop a new economic base, but significant regeneration challenges remain.

The city’s pop ulation was 145,000 in 2001, but is predicted to fall 14.3% between 2002 and 2018. Output and unemployment are both worse than the national average, although the economy has be en perfor ming better since 1996. 1 The city has lost its historic base of ‘jute, jam and journalism’ , whaling, trading, and shipbuilding. It is now developing a presence in digital media, culture, biotechnology, medicine, retail and call centres. Parts of the Scotti sh Civil Service have also relocated to the city. However, new sectors are embryonic and the biggest employers remain the two Universities, the Council and the NHS Trust. Connectivity is a major asset: nearly 630,000 people live within an hour’s drive, Ed inburgh is just over an hour away by train, and there are fast air connections to London. 2

Dundee’s city centre living programme began in the late 1990s with a £500m city centre regeneration programme. Empty jute mills and space above shops were converted into flats, and new blocks were built at City Quay. In the past few years, a new phase of development has begun: the city’s Waterfront is being regenerated in a major 30 -year reconstruction programme, and Dundee has zoned a Cultural Quarter to the west of the city core.

The city centre Dundee is a compact city. The city centre is small, although recent development has effectively extended it down to the banks of the Tay. For this study, therefore, the city

1 Dundee City Council (2004): About Dundee 2004 , Dundee: Dundee City Council. 2 Dundee City Council (2005): Dundee Economic Profile September 2005 , Dundee: Dundee City Council.

© C entre for Cities, December 2005 Page 1 of 6 centre is the area bounded by the Marketgate to the North, the waterfront to the South, East Dock Road and City Quay to the East, plus Dundee University and South Tay St to the West.

The popular West End borders the city centre near the University Campus. Abertay University and the embryonic Cultur al Quarter both lie immediately North West. This area forms part of the city’s ‘Inner Core’, which will also be the subject of extensive development in the years to come.

Dundee’s house prices have always been low compared to the rest of Scotland: the ci ty is good value. As outside investors have picked up on this, h ouse prices have risen 38.5% between 1993 and 2003. That trend is accelerating: during 2004, average prices rose 22.3%, up from 15.8% in 2003 and 3.8% in 2000 .3

Wi thin the city centre, most people are living in refurbished or converted accommodation. Until now, there has not been much new building, although there are now 646 units in the planning pipeline: 518 with planning permission a nd 128 pencilled into the Local Plan . New building is als o going on in the Inner Core, where there are 927 units in the pipeline: 189 under construction, 436 with planning permission and 302 planned for the futu re. 4

Dundee’s two Universities are big drivers of the city centre housing market. Parents are buying houses for students, and the buy to let market has grown considerably. There is increasing investor interest, largely from outside the city. 5 At the same time, the Universities are major players in the property market, extending halls of residence and part nering with private developers to build non -student housing. 6 Other key development sites are the former Ninewells Hospital, and the conversion of the former Debenhams store in the city centre. 7

Institutions and strategies Economic development, planni ng and housing are devolved to the Scottish Executive, which has forged a distinctive urban policy path. In 2001 it launched a major Review of Scotland’s Cities ,8 after which each Scottish city was asked to develop a City Vision , supported by small amounts of dedicated funding. 9 Scottish urban policy is pro -city, reflecting the view that cities are the engines of the national economy. A more sophisticated city -re gional approach is now emerging. 10

Scotland lacks a strong regional tier of government, and mos t powers lie either with the Scottish Executive or local players. In Dundee’s case, these are the City Council,

3 Dundee City Council (2005): Dundee Economic Profile September 2005 , Dundee: Dundee City Council. 4 Dundee City Council private communication, December 2005. 5 Stakeholder interviews, August 2005 6 Stakeholder interview, August 2005 7 Stakeholder interview, August 2005 8 Scottish Executive (2001): Review of Scotland’s Cities: The Analysis , Edinburgh: Scottis h Executive. 9 Scottish Executive (2003): Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities , Edinburgh: Scottish Executive. 10 M G Lloyd, J McCarthy and D Peel (forthcoming): ‘The Re -Construction of a Small Scottish City: Re -Discovering Dundee’, in D Bell and M Jayne (eds) Small Cities: Urban Experience Beyond the Metropolis , forthcoming: Routledge.

© C entre for Cities, December 2005 Page 2 of 6 Dund ee Partnership (which plays the same role as a Local Strategic Partnership ) – and two Tayside bodies, Scottish Enterprise Tayside (which has skills, workforce development and inward investment functions) and Communities Scotland Tayside (which has a housing and neighbourhood renewal focus, funding and policing regeneration).

Dundee’s 10 -year City Vision places great emphasis on city centre re generation and the future remodelling of the city’s Waterfront, and i s backed by £9.3m of Executive funding. 11 Dundee City Council, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Communities Scotland Tayside played the lead roles in developing city centre living during th e 1990s.

The initial priorities were to preserve built heritage and re -use empty space. This changed as the city sought to copy the success of Manchester and Glasgow’s city centre experiments. Dundee’s aims are now to improve the housing supply, to keep graduates and skilled workers in the city, to counter long term population loss and to improve the local tax base. 12

City centre population profile Dundee’s city centre population almost doubled over the 1990s: from 1,500 people in 1991 to 2,900 in 200 1 (table 1). These numbers will have risen since: given the rate of building the 2005 figure is likely to be well over 3,000.

Table 1. Dundee city centre population, 1991 and 2001.

City Data 1991 2001 Percentage change, 1991 - 2001 (adjusted)

Dundee Unadj usted 1,200 2,900 95 Adjusted 1,500 Source: Census, authors’ own working. Notes: 1991 figures are provided in basic form, and adjusted for changes in student counting 1991 -2001.

The increase in students living in the city centre accounts for a pp roximately 80% of this growth, and as in another case study city, Liverpool , students dominate the resident profile (see box).

11 Dundee City Council (2003): Dundee – A City Vision , Dundee: DCC. 12 Stakeholder interviews, August and September 2005

Total Population : 2,900 (2001), 1,500 (1991)

Aged between 15 -34: 74%

Single people (as a percentage of adult population): 85%

Students (as a percentage of working age population): 62%

Percentage living young professional lifestyles: 1%

Percentage living low -income lifestyles: 36%

Percentage of rented households: 77% (22% social, 55% pri vate)

Percentage of 16 -74 population that are graduates: 28.6%

Students, or people living student -type lifestyles account for 63% of the population. It is students that give the city centre its distinctiveness: without them, the city centre population w ould look much like the rest of the city. This implies that students are the only significant lifestyle group that can act to deliver an influence on the city centre’s cultural offer.

Dundee city centre’s working population is skewed significantly toward s lower -skilled, lower earning professions. As a result, the most prominent lifestyle after student -type lifestyles is that of people on very low incomes. The prominence of this group underlines the key difference between Dundee and the other cities studie d. Dundee offers relatively poor employment prospects, and relatively few high -paid positions. Many of the low -income group will be young adults living alone, and often suffering high levels of deprivation.

In Dundee, high -spending lifestyle types are n ot apparent. There is no concentration of high spending professionals in the city centre at all.

Resident focus groups: key findings We ran three focus groups in Dundee: with students, y oung professionals and people on low incomes ( retirees and young pe ople ).

Why are people in the city centre? As with the other two cities studied, Liverpool and Manchester , the main draws were proximity, convenience and buzz. The social aspect of city centre living was much less notable. In part, people felt Dundee was a friendly city and the city centre was little different from the rest of town. This was a double -edged benefit. Those from Dundee tended to feel it was a bit small and craved somewhere bigger. Those who had come to the city – from the countryside, or in one case, from London – felt that Dundee was just about the right size and that city centre living offered the right blend of easy access, vitality and sociability.

What do people do in the city centre? People used the city centre for shopping, work, h ealthcare and entertainment. There was a strong sense that shopping had improved markedly over the previous decade,

© C entre for Cities, December 2005 Page 4 of 6 particularly the Overgate and (for some people) the Wellgate. Students did all their shopping in the town centre. Others with cars did the b ulk of their food shopping out of the city core.

What do people dislike about the city centre? Those on lower incomes had complaints about the size and build quality of their flats, as did around half the students. Most residents would have liked a gard en, and had complaints about noise from seagulls. The City Quay development was roundly criticised, not for the accommodation but for the lack of convenience shopping and poor quality retail offer. People felt the area was barren and had little to offer. O verall, those living in and around the West End were happiest, while those in the heart of the city were least satisfied.

Will people stay in the city centre? Lack of employment opportunities was a major pull factor. Students and most of those without c hildren were all concerned about the state of the labour market, and felt they would leave Tayside if the right job came up. Those on lower incomes were less likely to say they would move out. Those raised in Dundee often felt they would like to move some where bigger to try it out – in particular, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. Most of those in work wanted to move somewhere a little quieter before they had children. Those with children or planning a family wanted to leave straight away because of lack of s pace for children to play.

Where will people go next? Among those planning to stay in Tayside, there was a clear hierarchy of desirable locations. Students and those looking for somewhere quieter to settle down were keen on the West End (an area that is still walkable). Both the West End and Broughty Ferry were desirable areas for all groups, but seen as expensive. Both the professionals and those on lower incomes expected to settle elsewhere – Newport and Wormit, and to a less extent, Tayport and West Fe rry. Apart from West Ferry, all of these areas are outside the city boundaries.

Benefits of city centre living in Dundee City centre living has spread as it has grown. City centre communities are now appearing in smaller cities across the UK. Places l ike Dundee and Derby want to copy the experience of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, with the s ame benefits.

City centre living is a marker of urban renaissance. City centre living is also part of a package of regeneration measures: flats, shops, office s, public space. As such, it is not easy to pick out the direct effects of city centre housing. It forms part of several virtuous circles.

There are clear local benefits . New housing has helped improve the city centre itself. Central neighbourhoods have become safer and more vibrant: city centre residents have helped blur the edges between the daytime and evening economies. New residents help the local service economy, particularly restaurants and bars. Although they make up a relatively small share of to tal spending, they help attract more businesses into the area, and with them more visitors.

City centre living has other benefits too. Residents are more likely to travel on foot, or using public transport. In Dundee city centre, for example, more than t wo thirds of residents walk to work, compared with 12% nationally. However, levels of car

Are there wider catalyst effects? Our research suggests that in smaller cities, the benefits of c ity centre living are limited. That means s maller cities should not try to copy bigger ones. It is possible to roll out city centre living outside the big conurbations, but it will look and feel di fferent. It is also likely to accomplish less.

City centre living is less attractive in smaller places. There are good reasons for this. The main benefits of city centre living are proximity, convenience and buzz. Smaller cities are more compact, so prox imity benefits are less. Their centres are easy to access from elsewhere, including outer suburbs: those living across the Tay can reach the centre of Dundee in 10 minutes. Similarly, smaller cities have less going on in their centres. Buzz benefits are le ss. Dundee and Derby both have a ‘big village’, not a ‘big city’ feel.

So city centre living is a much less distinctive experience in smaller places. It is a niche market, most appealing to students and – in Dundee – those coming from the surrounding cou ntryside. Regeneration benefits are confined to the city centre itself. There is little sign of the wider catalyst effects we observe in bigger places. Most of all, city centre living is no substitute for a strong economy. Dundee’s experience also illustr ates the limits of city centre living without underlying growth. Smaller places can use city centre living in two ways. First, they should pursue ‘city centre living lite’ – using housing as part of a city centre renewal strategy, and ensuring a good qual ity of life for residents.

Second, they should use city centre living as part of city -regional economic development frameworks. Smaller cities should concentrate on developing their economic base, and forging transport links to bigger urban economies. Ci ty centre housing can then support a growing commuter economy. In the future, for example, Dundee’s connections to Edinburgh could help it become a Scottish Brighton – a regional centre with strong links to the capital.

This paper accompanies City People: City Centre Living in the UK, a Centre for Cities report on the growth of city centre living in Britain.

The full report can be downloaded from www.ippr.org/centreforcities

The Centre for Cities is an independent urban research unit based at ippr, the Institute for Public Policy Research. It is taking a fresh look at ho w cities function, focussing o n the economic drivers behind city growth – investment, enterprise, innovation, skills and employment.