DUNDEE will continue its bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023 despite the vote for Brexit.
The Council had announced that it was going to bid for the title that can mean millions for the winning city, but earlier this week the Brexit vote was reported to the Policy and Resources Committee.
A UK city is slated to get the title in 2023, though it remains to be seen whether the UK Government will follow through and continue with the scheme which involves all of Europe but is run by the European Union.
The committee unanimously decided to continue with the bid. The council has also backed the bid of Tayside neighbour Perth to become UK City of Culture in 2021.
A report to the committee stated that Creative Services has been commissioned to carry out a detailed scoping study in connection with the European Capital of Culture competition. The report stated: “It indicates the considerable economic and jobs benefits that could accrue from both bidding and, hopefully, from winning the designation.
“It is understood that the scale of the event is such that it would require the support of the Scottish Government and its agencies to deliver a credible and persuasive bid (and year).
“Therefore, at this stage, Dundee City Council should seek support in principle for the city to bid, allowing an opportunity over the summer for elected members and officers to sound out colleagues nationally over the potential of a Dundee bid.
“Similarly, it is recommended that Dundee welcome a bid by Perth to become UK City of Culture in 2021 and to support its ambitions appropriately.”
A city from Hungary will also be designated for 2023 and Dundee will likely line up against Bristol, Leeds and Milton Keynes to vie for the UK bid. The new V & A museum outpost and the massive waterfront developments will give Dundee a credible bid for the title so memorably won by Glasgow in 1990.
The last British city to be Capital of Culture was Liverpool in 2008. It should be noted that other cities outside the EU such as Bergen and Stavanger in Norway, Reykjavik in Iceland, and Istanbul in Turkey have all been given the accolade in the past.
Some 54 cities have held the title, from Athens in 1985 to Wroclaw and Donostia-San Sebastian this year. Aarhus in Denmark and Paphos in Cyprus will be next year’s capitals.
The EU states that competition for the title starts at least six years in advance, to give bidding cities enough time to engage with their citizens as well as their cultural, economic and social stakeholders, and develop an ambitious programme for their year, fully integrated into their overall development strategy as well as having all new cultural infrastructure projects ready by their year.
Council leader Ken Guild said: “Bidding for the title of European Capital of Culture is a way of reaching out beyond the UK and into Europe and the world.”
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