analysis

According to the ancient Greeks, happiness is “the joy that we feel when we’re striving after our potential”.

If that analysis is correct then Dundonians have the right to be more than a little peeved at the latest ONS survey statistics.

While the city continues to struggle with deprivation and unemployment, there can be no doubt that coordinated efforts to reinvent are being made, not least at the waterfront where our modern day Acropolis continues to rise.

Indeed, there is nothing that boils the blood of city residents more than people (or the media) “doing Dundee down”, even though in this instance the survey data has been taken from local interviews and therefore should provide a reasonable barometer.

Perhaps of more concern than general happiness, though, are the figures showing Dundee comes bottom of the Scottish pile in how worthwhile we feel our lives are.

For any community to flourish, the mentality has to be of a positive, can-do nature and a lack of self-esteem or selfworth can only hinder us from pursuing our goals and dreams.

As a local authority area, Dundee City has, for too long, languished behind its Tayside neighbours when it comes to these satisfaction surveys, so it was also interesting to note that, year on year, happiness levels dropped in both Angus and Perthshire.

Like the civilisations of old, every city has its rise and fall but not all are fortunate enough to enjoy the kind of renaissance currently taking place beside the Tay.

Hopefully in years to come history will view Dundee as a place that was able to recapture happiness by seizing hold of its own future.