UK City of Culture 2017 campaigners urge public to outline vision for Dundee

The Desperate Dan statue is a distinct feature in the city of Dundee

A people-led campaign which helped Dundee reach the shortlist for UK City of Culture 2017 wants the public to help with the next stage of the bid.

"We Dundee" is encouraging people to outline what they want to see in the city in four years time.

Dundee is competing against Hull, Leicester and Swansea Bay for the title. Aberdeen missed out on the shortlist which was revealed in June.

The winning city will be announced in November this year.

Now the city is on the shortlist, a culture programme must be produced in order to complete the next phase which has a 30 September deadline.

Dundee will then make a final presentation to the competition judges in mid-November and the winning city will be announced later that month.

The cultural suggestions that have already been made include:

• a celebration of the river involving the communities around the Tay Estuary

• a celebration of the environment involving making the most of the city's green spaces

• and a homecoming for those with their roots in Dundee or connections to the city

Dundee will make a final presentation to the competition judges in mid-November and the winning city will be announced later that month.

The "We Dundee" website was launched earlier this year and its creators said it "exceeded all targets" by generating more than 2,300 supporters and 20,000 site visits, including hits from Canada, United States, Spain and Australia.

Stewart Murdoch, chairman of the Dundee bid group, said: "The depth and range of contribution from so many members of the public in phase one was astonishing and genuinely impressed the city of culture judges, and I'm sure this next phase will be just as effective.

"It's a competition so we can't always give too much away, but there's no doubt that the bid's secret weapon is the creativity and imagination of the city's people. I'm really looking forward to seeing the ideas come in over the next month. "

The UK City of Culture is a competition run by the UK government which uses culture and creativity to transform communities and is currently held by Derry in Northern Ireland.