City Centre, Dundee

Until the industrial revolution the current City Centre represented the full extent of the City of Dundee, Scotland. Now roughly encircled by the Marketgait dual carriageway, the city centre is now the main shopping and commercial district. Unlike the city centre of Glasgow many of the city centre’s streets (especially in the southern and eastern quarters) are not built on a grid plan and in that way have more in common with street plan of the Old Town of Edinburgh (although most buildings in Dundee’s city centre date from the 19th century or later).AreasThe modern city centre is still divided into the six medieval thoroughfares: the Seagait, Murraygait, Nethergait, Overgait, Wellgait and the Cowgait which all remain today, although the “Overgate” and “Wellgate” are now enclosed shopping centres. Many of the medieval closes were demolished in the late 19th Century to make way for larger and grander Victorian streets. However the area to the north of the city centre between Meadowside, Ward Road and the Marketgait is mostly based on a grid system with wide avenues and crescents, due to much of this area being planned and designed in the Victorian era.CityscapeAt the heart of the city centre is the City Square, home to two of Dundee’s principal cultural venues; the Caird Hall, the Marryat Hall along with the City Chambers and other businesses. The multi-storey Tayside House, completed in 1976 to accommodate the then new Tayside Regional Council, and latterly the main headquarters of Dundee City Council, was located directly behind the City Square. It was demolished in 2013 as part of the redevelopment of the waterfront area, with the council HQ moving to Dundee House.