Scotland's city of discovery — V&A Dundee, jute heritage, and the RRS Discovery
Dundee is Scotland's fourth city, transformed in the 21st century from a post-industrial port into one of the UK's most surprising cultural destinations. The V&A Museum of Design Dundee — the only V&A outside London, designed by Kengo Kuma — sits on the waterfront beside the RRS Discovery, the ship that carried Scott and Shackleton to Antarctica. The regenerated waterfront, a thriving creative scene rooted in the video game industry (Dundee is where Grand Theft Auto was designed), and the Dundee street food and restaurant scene make it a compelling stop on the Scottish east coast.
Dundee grew as a trading and manufacturing city from the medieval period; by the 19th century it was the global centre of jute processing — the natural fibre used for sacking, rope, and hessian cloth. At its peak, over half the city's working population was employed in jute mills. The decline of jute in the 20th century left Dundee economically depressed for decades; the transformation of the waterfront from 2000 onwards, anchored by the V&A opening in 2018, has been one of the most successful urban regeneration stories in Scotland.