Among the findings were that the city centre is healthy and prosperous, appears to be attracting significant investment and continues to flourish as one of Scotland’s major retail destinations.

Further investment in the Overgate is expected to ensure Dundee retains its position as the fourth top retail destination in Scotland.

However, while Debenhams is an important store for both shoppers and other retailers, the city centre is lacking in department store provision and could benefit from the presence of major operators like John Lewis or House of Fraser.

The study also comments on the various district shopping centres such as Lochee, Hilltown, Broughty Ferry, Albert Street and Perth Road.

While Lochee has a reasonable mix of shops for its size the number of vacancies in the two managed shopping centres is a matter for concern.

The masterplan currently in preparation for Lochee could feed into a future town centre strategy for the district centre.

Hilltown is said to be underperforming significantly as a district centre and can be regarded as a retail centre with considerable problems, the study found.

Future planning policy should give encouragement to the occupancy of existing retail units and encourage a diversity of uses in the area.

Broughty Ferry is said to be vibrant and performing well, offering a good range of shops which underpin its attraction.

Because of its distance from the city centre it appears to have its own catchment and is not disadvantaged by competition with the city centre. Unlike other district centres, Broughty Ferry benefits from both tourist and visitor trade.

Referring to Albert Street, the study said the new edge of centre Lidl supermarket in Dura Street would help draw trade into the area and provide scope for linked trips to the district centre shops.

Perth Road was found to be reasonably healthy as a district centre, but there are few opportunities to create new retail floor space.

Its attraction for many shoppers lies in the unique products for sale in some of the area’s speciality shops.

In conclusion, the study found the district centres presented a contrasting picture, with Broughty Ferry and Perth Road appearing healthy and vibrant but Lochee, Hilltown and Albert Street having issues of vacancy and dilapidation.