PLANS are being drawn up for a major new concert, conference and exhibition venue at Leith docks.
The multi-million pound complex, part of the massive Waterfront development, is being modelled on the Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
But consultants behind the scheme also want to see it as the centrepiece of a new "cultural quarter" like London's
South Bank.
An indoor concert arena has long been identified as a missing part of Edinburgh's arts and cultural facilities.
But plans have already been unveiled for an even larger venue at the new Royal Highland showground near Edinburgh airport.
The proposed 10,000-seat arena is part of the major development plans outlined by the Royal Highland Agricultural Society for Scotland for its move from Ingliston across the road to Norton Park.
The showground is having to move by 2013 to make way for a £1 billion expansion of Edinburgh Airport.
Showground bosses see their proposed "Edinburgh Arena" as a long-awaited rival to Glasgow's SECC and hope it will draw big-name pop and rock concerts away from the west coast.
The new Waterfront scheme is described as an arts venue, which would host everything from concerts and conferences to exhibitions and award ceremonies.
A city council source said: "A number of options are under consideration, but the Millennium Centre, in Cardiff, is the closest model to the one Edinburgh is heading to.
"Everyone is agreed that Edinburgh does not need a new concert hall or conference centre, but a building which can be adapted for various uses and stacks up financially has huge appeal for the city."
The £100 million Millennium Centre, which opened in 2004, boasts a 1900-seater auditorium and a 250-capacity theatre.
It was created as a world-class stage for ballet, opera, musical theatre and dance, but is also home to performing arts companies and regularly plays host to everything from West End musicals to stand-up comics.
London-based consultants, the Communication Group, have urged the city council, Scottish Enterprise and the various developers along the waterfront to learn from how the Millennium Centre has helped to kickstart regeneration on Cardiff's waterfront.
A report produced by the company states: "Edinburgh is a long-established tourist destination.
"The ambition should be to get the waterfront on to a list of the top five things to do in Edinburgh."
Forth Ports is the main landowner and developer along Edinburgh's waterfront. Lucy Parsons, project director at Forth Ports, said: "The last thing we want to do is build a white elephant, but we are very conscious of the arguments in favour of a major iconic like the Millennium Centre."
