V&A Dundee and Cultural Institutions in Dundee: The Role of Museums in Culture-Led Regeneration

Abstract

This paper will examine V&A Dundee and the role of the museum in culture-led regeneration of a post-industrial city. It will set the museum in the context of existing cultural institutions in Dundee and the significance of the previous work undertaken by institutions in moving towards culture-led regeneration, showing that this has been in progress for over forty years. V&A Dundee is promoted as the centrepiece of the city’s one-billion-pound waterfront regeneration, prompting comparisons to the ‘Bilbao effect’, and subsequent examples. This paper will analyse the main objectives of the museum alongside its perception as a driver of culture-led regeneration, but also illustrating the limitations of culture-led regeneration.