| After the latest stage of online voting closed yesterday, only 20 cities are now in the running — and Dundee is not, officially, among those still in with a chance in the final vote.
The only “home” representatives are Waterford and Cork, in Ireland. However, both are rank outsiders in the current rankings, with Quebec, in Canada, the runaway leader with 16.4% of the votes.
Taiwan’s Taipei is the closest on the wildcard leaderboard with 11.1%, while the Irish towns are sitting 17th and 18th, with only 1.9% (Cork) and 1.4% (Waterford).
Lord Provost John Letford (right) had called on Dundonians all over the world to help “put the city on the board”. However, his efforts appear to have been in vain.
In September, Dundee became the only Scottish city to be included in the Here and Now UK version of the product, also beating the likes of Liverpool and Manchester to a coveted position on the board.
Dundee took the place of The Strand — the fourth most valuable location on the board.
Mr Letford said today he was “extremely disappointed” Dundee would not be on the world map. “We were very excited about the possibility of being successful, but unfortunately it’s not to be.
“We did our best to get enough votes from Dundonians around the world, and even our twin cities of Wurtzburg and Alexandria were urging their citizens to vote for us. Congratulations to whoever is successful, and I’m sure there will be more opportunities to put Dundee on the map in the future.” |
