Snapshot shows not all sold on V&A

With a month to go until the V&A Dundee opens on the transformed Tay waterfront, The Courier tested the opinion of readers with a simple survey of their attitudes towards the project.

Since it was first mooted, the museum’s transformative nature has been hailed by backers.

The V&A is credited in the explosion of hotels, shops and restaurants which have sprung up in the city centre.

With them, come jobs and spending power which will fuel Dundee and wider Tayside.

However, the underlying feeling the project is creating two cities has never gone away.

Despite the bold artistic and cultural renaissance, many pockets of crushing deprivation remain and with them, a startling educational attainment gap, lack of social housing and public health crisis.

Our survey may be nothing more than a crude snapshot of local feeling but it is revealing nonetheless.

While economic advantages and increased civic pride score highly with participants, responses regarding public engagement are less enthusiastic. Nearly 20% of people were unaware of the opening date, for example.

The V&A will be able to stand on its own as a tourist attraction but its backers have a loftier aspiration – to lead a societal transformation in Dundee’s fortunes.

To meet this, efforts must be stepped up to ensure full engagement with a public which is ready to embrace it.