TY - JOUR
T1 - Legacies of failure to win the city of culture
T2 - Liminality, civicism and change
AU - Ryan, Annmarie
AU - McPherson, Gayle
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - The European Capital of Culture Programme and the UK Cities of Culture Programme have emerged as important vehicles in the realisation of the promise of culture led regeneration. However, while value of bidding both in terms of cultural value and public value is well documented, less attention has been given to those cities that loose in their attempts to become Capital of Culture. Drawing on the works of Turner, we conceive of the bidding phase of a competitive cultural mega event competition as a liminal phase; where the ‘old’ rules of cultural organising are put into flux, and where novel or creative solutions can be re-imagined. Using a case study methodology, the paper draws attention to the ways the bidding process shapes the cities, and the legacy effects made possible through engagement in the process. We show how the competitive nature of the bidding process (often with cities competing with their close neighbours), enables a particular form of civic pride, that is, civicism to enrol stakeholder support to ‘do it for the bid’ and set the scene for transformation. We propose that the legacy of bidding is not just about winning (or not) but leveraging the process for sustainable change. We discuss how two places, in competing to host a cultural mega event, used the bid to create change to redress structural and social inequalities. While the emphasis in the current discourse is a ‘winner takes all’, we evidence that this does not do justice to the transformative effect of bidding for those cities that do not go on to host the event. The framework presented in this work offers cities a model to reflect on the transformative potential of bidding for yearlong cultural events.
AB - The European Capital of Culture Programme and the UK Cities of Culture Programme have emerged as important vehicles in the realisation of the promise of culture led regeneration. However, while value of bidding both in terms of cultural value and public value is well documented, less attention has been given to those cities that loose in their attempts to become Capital of Culture. Drawing on the works of Turner, we conceive of the bidding phase of a competitive cultural mega event competition as a liminal phase; where the ‘old’ rules of cultural organising are put into flux, and where novel or creative solutions can be re-imagined. Using a case study methodology, the paper draws attention to the ways the bidding process shapes the cities, and the legacy effects made possible through engagement in the process. We show how the competitive nature of the bidding process (often with cities competing with their close neighbours), enables a particular form of civic pride, that is, civicism to enrol stakeholder support to ‘do it for the bid’ and set the scene for transformation. We propose that the legacy of bidding is not just about winning (or not) but leveraging the process for sustainable change. We discuss how two places, in competing to host a cultural mega event, used the bid to create change to redress structural and social inequalities. While the emphasis in the current discourse is a ‘winner takes all’, we evidence that this does not do justice to the transformative effect of bidding for those cities that do not go on to host the event. The framework presented in this work offers cities a model to reflect on the transformative potential of bidding for yearlong cultural events.
KW - Cities of Culture
KW - Civicism
KW - Events
KW - Legacy Effects
KW - Liminality
KW - Public Value
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141499059&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ccs.2022.100488
DO - 10.1016/j.ccs.2022.100488
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141499059
SN - 1877-9166
VL - 31
JO - City, Culture and Society
JF - City, Culture and Society
M1 - 100488
ER -