Culturalisation of the city: from Global Competitiveness to Local Spatial Development

Abstract

With increasing competition between cities and the search for distinction and differentiation to gain a place among the world's cities and attract investment and tourism, culture has become a tool for development, forcing new spatial transformations and policies in cities. Cities use the organization of mega cultural events as a tool to strengthen their global standing and economic recovery and to stimulate the cultural sector.

The research focuses, in particular, on the cultural event of the European cities "European Capital of Culture," which aims to enhance the contribution of culture to the long-term development of cities. This initiative dates back to 1985 and has become one of Europe's most popular and competitive cultural events.

The research aims to 1. - Discuss the hypothesis that competition between European cities for the title of European Capital of Culture and hosting the event can successfully contribute to the process of local spatial development, and 2- Present various local development outcomes of hosting the event by studying some examples.

The research methodology relies on a review of the European Commission's publications and academic studies that discuss this topic, those that give general conclusions about the event's impact, and others that examine the impact of hosting the event on one or more particular cities. Examples were selected according to five models of cities: cities responding to industrial decline and economic restructuring, heritage cities, cities with a relatively strong economy, geographically and/or politically marginal cities, and multicultural cities.

After discussing the positive and negative impacts in physical spatial, economic and social domains, the research suggests some recommendations on the effectiveness of cultural management and the need for revitalization according to the local context of the cities seeking to host future cultural events so as to ensure positive long-term results.