Dundee's waterfront voted 'best place' in Scotland Published duration 30 June 2014

image copyright Dundee waterfront image caption Dundee's waterfront is mid-way through a £1bn regeneration programme

Dundee's waterfront has been voted the "best place in Scotland".

The city's waterfront, which is mid-way through a £1bn regeneration, triumphed in the poll run by the Royal Town Planning Institute of Scotland.

Other contenders in the final shortlist of areas improved by good planning included the West Highland Way, the Royal Mile and Glasgow's Merchant City.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park was the runner-up.

The competition, backed by the Scottish government, aimed to find places "built, enhances or protected by planners and the planning system within Scotland since 1914".

Judges whittled down an initial 55 entries to a shortlist of ten before the public vote, which more than 3,700 people took part in.

It is estimated that £500m of the projected £1bn investment in Dundee's waterfront has already been secured.

Plans for the city include a £45m outpost of the V&A museum, a new train station, a marina and a huge urban park.

The council says it will create 9,000 jobs, attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, and bring in millions of pounds of investment.

image copyright Edward Maihin image caption Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park was the runner-up

Will Dawson, convener of Dundee City Council's city development committee, said the award was timely as the project was finally starting to take shape.

He said: "As well as thanking all of the people who voted for the waterfront in the poll I want to say how delighted I am that the city and the project are getting the recognition they richly deserve.

"Now that we are all able to see the street pattern emerging it is easier to envisage exactly how spectacular the completed project will be."

The ten places which made the shortlist for the public vote were: Dundee's waterfront, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Crown Street and Merchant City in Glasgow, the West Highland Way, Lerwick waterfront, the Forth and Clyde Canal, Raploch in Stirling and East Kilbride.