DUNFERMLINE is bidding to gain favour from the Queen to become Scotland's eighth city and over the next few weeks we'll look at the case we can put forward.

The competition will celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee next year and official recognition would provide a boost to civic pride and access to game-changing funding to help recover and move on from the pandemic.

But what makes a city? Does Dunfermline have what it takes?

If it was based on history alone, there'd be no argument.

Ancient capital of Scotland for around 400 years, the home of Saint Margaret and where kings and queens ruled, died and were buried, including Robert the Bruce? Box ticked.

Andrew Carnegie hailed from here, the richest man in the world who left a worldwide legacy that's still doing good work today, and we made the wedding dress the Queen wore as she walked down the aisle almost 70 years ago.

Remind her of that and surely city status is in the bag?

But there's more to it than past glories.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a city as 'a large and important town' or one 'given special rights by a king or queen' and that 'usually has a cathedral'.

That last requirement was dropped in the 19th century as it was plainly absurd that places like Birmingham could not call itself a city.

Size isn't everything – St David's is famously Britain's smallest city with a population of just over 1,600 – but it's one of the main criteria in what people's perception of a city is.

Dunfermline is the biggest town in Fife, the 10th largest in Scotland and would obviously be the Kingdom's first city if chosen to stand alongside Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Stirling and Perth.

Councillor Helen Law said it was the "fastest-growing town in Europe", with thousands of houses constructed since 2000 and more to come, with 2,000 to be built at Broomhall, 1,100 on the way at Wellwood and a further 1,700 between Halbeath and Kingseat, to name quite a few.

Commendable progress is being made with old and abandoned listed buildings, such as the Dunlop factory and Carnegie Clinic, are also being converted into luxury apartments.

Michael Maloco, of estate agents Maloco + associates and a former member of Dunfermline Town Centre Management, admitted: "I'm a little conflicted on this.

"When I think of a city I think of somewhere you go for a city break, such as London, Barcelona, Prague, Venice or Rome, these are cities in my mind.

"You know it when you see it and to me Dunfermline doesn't feel like a city.

"I'd rather it was a very vibrant town offering an alternative to people moving away from the city, wanting a gentler, less frenetic way of life.

"There's a lot be said for that.

"The fact we're a town and don't have city status means we don't have those city house prices.

"All around the UK, it's far more expensive in the city than it is in the surrounding area so from the housing market point of view, it's probably a help and not a hindrance that Dunfermline is a town."

Dunfermline's population was just over 50,000 in the last census in 2011 – it's estimated to have climbed to around 53,000 by 2016 and projected to increase by around 25 per cent over the next decade or so.

That housebuilding and growth, including business units and new schools, will necessitate £40 million of transport upgrades, including two bypass roads to take traffic away from the town (or city) centre and serve the vast new housing estates to the north and west of Dunfermline.

The town has two railway stations – it wants one at Halbeath too – with fast links to Edinburgh by train and bus but can you seriously be classed as a city without, say, an A&E department?

(Stirling doesn't have one either).

Mr Maloco said: "Does size matter? To an extent it does.

"If you're over 100,000 in population you'd probably say it was inevitable, you'd definitely be looking at city status by the very nature of the infrastructure you'd have to have – schools, transport, hospitals etc.

"I think it's more to do with attitude but does it really matter what kind of label we put on ourselves?

"I'd just like Dunfermline to be proud of itself, celebrate its great history, embrace a better future and try and be the best version of itself that it can be.

"To me, that would be more independent, family-run businesses, more niche shops that were in abundance in Dunfermline's heyday of the '60s and early '70s.

"I realise times change but there's still a market for that, I'm really encouraged by the new vegan cafe, Cafe Wynd, the new lingerie shop and the sweet shop that have both opened on New Row.

"They are good examples of what a town can offer that a city, which tends to be more anonymous with a lot of the same big stores, does not."

He added: "I can understand why they want to go for it. Everyone needs an injection of capital, especially now.

"But I don't know if city status is ultimately the answer."