The West End is an area of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Bordered to the south by the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

, to the north by Blackness and to the east by the city centre, the West End is primarily an affluent residential area surrounding its main commercial thoroughfare, Perth Road, and the main campus of the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

. Since 1998, the city council has developed a "Cultural Quarter" at the boundary between the city centre and the West End which is now home to the

Dundee Repertory Theatre Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house with some shows co-produced by other theatres and a receiving house – hosting work from ...

, the

Whitehall Theatre Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

, the

Dundee Science Centre Dundee Science Centre (formerly known as Sensation) is a science centre located in Dundee, Scotland, and a part of the Scottish Science Centres Network. It is a registered charity under Scottish law. It is funded by the public and donations from ...

and

Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...

building as well as other commercial galleries and studios, and the university's

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) is part of the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland. It is ranked as one of the top schools of art and design in the United Kingdom. History Attempts were made to establish an art sch ...

Landmarks

The

is located in this area and provides a focal point for some 20,000 students. The neighbourhood is also home to St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Morgan Tower, an 18th-century tenement which is now a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

– and Blackness Library located further west at the ''Sinderins'': the area where Perth Road and the Hawkhill diverge once forming a major entry point to Dundee.

Harris Academy Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the affluent residential area of West End, Dundee, West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Previously academically-se ...

, Dundee's oldest and largest secondary school is also located in the West End area of Dundee on Perth Road. The university's Botanic Gardens and sports facilities are located by the river next to

Dundee Airport Dundee Airport () is an airport based in Dundee, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Tay and overlooks the Tay Rail Bridge. It is a popular transport hub for golf players, as it is the closest airport to the championship courses a ...

. The university’s College of Life Sciences located on Hawkhill incorporates the Wellcome Trust Biocentre, Sir

James W. Black Sir James Whyte Black (14 June 1924 – 22 March 2010) was a Scottish physician and pharmacologist. Together with Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings, he shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for pioneering strategies for rationa ...

Centre, MRC

Protein Phosphorylation Protein phosphorylation is a reversible post-translational modification of proteins in which an amino acid residue is phosphorylated by a protein kinase by the addition of a covalently bound phosphate group. Phosphorylation alters the structural ...

Unit and

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

Centre laboratories.

Character of area

The district has many shops, bars, restaurants and hotels although this is balanced by many residential properties especially heading west. The area has traditionally been more affluent with many large

Edwardian period In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

houses compared to the large proportion of tenements built to house workers, primarily those involved in the

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

industry, in other sectors of the city. The housing in the area is popular among students due to its proximity to the university. The West End has been subject to a large degree of studentification. By attracting people from across the UK and other countries, the university district has evolved a separate identity within Dundee.

Town and gown Town and gown are two distinct communities of a college town, university town; 'town' being the non-academic population and 'gown' Metonymy, metonymically being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as Universit ...

relations are generally cordial, although issues such as

Houses in multiple occupation A house in multiple occupation (HMO), or a house of multiple occupancy, is a British English term which refers to residential properties where 'common areas' exist and are shared by more than one household. Most HMOs have been subdivided from lar ...

(HMOs) and parking difficulties are amongst the problems between the indigenous population and the University.

Governance

With the 2007 re-organisation of wards for elections to

Dundee City Council Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Dundee City council area, Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a municipal c ...

there is now a large West End Ward, which was created with the amalgamation of the Tay Bridges, Riverside, and Logie wards. The councillors for the area are currently Fraser Macpherson (

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

), Bill Campbell, (

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

), Donald Hay (

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...

) and Richard McCready ( Labour).

References

External links

West End Community Council

Friends of Magdalen Green website
{{Areas of Dundee Areas of Dundee