Role of the European Capital of Culture - Research Paper Example

Role of the European Capital of Culture “European Capitals of Culture”, which is also known as the ECCs, are the regarded as the perfect super- occasions, designed to enthuse the citizens, aggravate feelings associated with the general citizenship with the help of the participation as well as by restructuring of urban space. Spatial impacts of the ECCs are considered as the most pronounced notion, in this respect. Sometimes these aspects are covenanting with a principally controversial place or catalyzing regeneration. For a moment, these aspects are considered to be more tied to the tourism or the city-images. There also lies a threat of consistency “as the cities are seeking to fulfill a format of the ideal ECC” (Palonen, 2011, p.246). After studying three applications related to the ECC 2008 as well as the argument surrounding the bid, various researchers, including Griffiths, has claims that “the ECC bidding process managed to articulate differences between the cities, and their distance to the local and regional strategies” (Palonen, 2011, p.246). Hitherto, while creating dissimilarities between cities, areas and even presenting insights to Europe which vary, the thoughts of culture are somewhat similar. And also are the characteristics of the programmes as well as their applications (Palonen, 2011, p.246). This paper is aimed at providing a detailed descriptive set of aspects related to the role of the European Capital of Culture. Regeneration and ECC: In respect to the policy process all the European cities become symbols of Europe as the ‘family of cultures’. The examination on this super-occurrence could center on the institutions as well as on the actors of the procedure; however in various articles a novel viewpoint is required. This explores how the process of institutionalisation associated with the cultural models of Europe, partaking as well as special effects (habitually gentrification) are restricted in the liberty of the city performance artistic interferences as an element of the official programme related to two closely linked with ECCs. The degree of inspection is related to the micro-context that is associated with ‘an encounter between the locals and the intervention staged by ‘cultural workers’ including the author herself’. Originally, it has been the thought of nominating the “European City of Culture” that has been voiced in the year 1983 by the “Greek Minister of Culture”, Melina Mercouri. In this regard, ECCs has been chosen since the year 1985 and also the policy has been shifted over the passage of time. For instance, the choice from 1999 pressures “artistic movements and styles shared by Europeans”, incorporating people from divergent parts of the European Union for “lasting cultural cooperation” as well as movement, mobilisation as well as participation of big sections of the inhabitants, the process of reception of citizens, also the dialogue between the prevailing European cultures and of those from the other sections of the world and the momentous “heritage, urban architecture and quality of life in the city” (Palonen, 2011, p.246). Various empirical studies have revealed several aspects related to the process of making a significant contribution in the process of popularising the European cultures across the globe. According to Palonen (2011), nevertheless, guidelines for the candidates as well as criteria for the “National Selection Boards” in the year 2006 began two dimensions: one is the “the European Dimension”, stressing collaboration, prosperity of cultural diversity in different countries in Europe; and the common facets of different European cultures; and the “City and Citizens”, stressing contribution as well as sustainability in respect to long-term cultural as well as social growth of the metropolis. Each member nation possesses the right to organise an ECC, and also the power to select the metropolis is, in observe, entrusted to the member nations by the EU, which formally nominate the metropolises. As the incorporation deepened as well as the European Community has been turned into the EU in the “Maastricht Treaty of 1992”, and also the Union afterward enlarged, more nations wished to organise the occasion. In respect to this, the prospect was offered from the year 2000 to greater than one metropolis in the identical time-frame. Lately, this has implied two (Palonen, 2011, p.246) metropolises, including one from the elder member nations and the one newly joined (Palonen, 2011, p.247). Various roots associated with the ECCs rest in the fable related to Europe which has been launched by jean Monnet in regard to his perseverance on the culture as the most important basis related to the European Community during the period of 1980s. The notion has been to emphasise the European culture as well as to recognise related to various values of the cities, such as Athens and Florence. These values are associated largely with the historical perspectives of the European countries. The European Commission has decreed in 1985 (with the help of the law 85/C 153/02): “the ‘European City of Culture’ event should be the expression of a culture which, in its historical emergence and contemporary development, is characterized by having both common elements and a richness born of diversity” (Palonen, 2011, p.248). Behind this policy there has been an intuition that the European identity presents legitimacy mainly in regard to the European project as well as it cannot be shaped by meager economic and governmental arrangements. It has been visible in the suggestion of the Anthony D. Smith’s (1992) that of a third approach, between unacceptable historical sagas and memories. Each of these aspects have been contestable anywhere around Europe as well as “memoryless scientific ‘culture’ held together solely by the political will and economic interest that are so often subject to change” (Palonen, 2011, p.248). There have been shared traditions, although not all the European people invest in those traditions entirely. However, at one point of time or the other all communities in Europe contributed in as a minimum some of those traditions as well as heritages, in respect to varying degree. In place of the notion of unity-indiversity thesis, these researchers have rearticulates Wittgenstein’s notions of ‘family resemblances’ related with the concept of a “family of cultures”, which has been a notion that informs the great compliment of the ECC (Palonen, 2011, p.248). Cultural legacies and Managing Culture: Furthermore, the toolbox associated with the European leaders has been raised after the “Maastricht Treaty of 1992” along with the prospect to run different European cultural policies – as well as a variety of types of funding, legislation as well as administration – athwart the superior and integrating Union (Palonen, 2011, p.248). In this context, the ECCs has become a means of transportation in order to reproduce Smith’s vision of the European identity-development; images in the hunt for the United Europe, to rephrase Carola Hein (2006). Therefore, in their early phase, ECCs obtained this traditional role even though have been limited in their capability to efficiently disseminate these recently constructed thoughts and values. These have later been expressed via spatial effects and mass-participations. Therefore, in a growth from meager commonality among the European historical customs, the standards for planning the super-event become considerate to aspects such as what might be shared and also what has been ‘European’ (in this artificial sense) about the particular cities? (Palonen, 2011, p.248). The notion of cultural legacies of large number of and varieties of cultures which are comprised of the most important and sustainable part of the cultural legacies of these countries, are significantly raising the growth of these aspects. All the places of the major and most popular European cultural areas, such as Britain, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Amsterdam, are increasingly becoming the part of the cultural legacies in these areas (Mittag, 2011, p.4). All the aspects related to the management of different cultural aspects and also of management of different cultural places across the European Union, various long terms aspects have been considered. These aspects are related mainly to the preservation as well as conservation of different popular cultures of places across the continent. These processes are expected to increase the effective role of ECC in the development processes of the leisure industries across the countries in the continent (Ex-Post Evaluation of 2010 European Capitals of Culture, 2011, p.4). Spatial transformation and effects on the leisure and tourism industry: In its sources, the ECC procedure has been a “top-down modernist and essentialist project” (Palonen, 2011, p.248). Afterward, it later provided more scope for the purpose of presenting and representing the city in regard to the ‘European’ culture. The most important turning point in regard to the history of those super-events has been the year 1990, at what time not London but also Glasgow – an area not so much well-known for its traditions but for industry – has been rewarded the title named as the “European City of Culture”. The occasion helped Glasgow to change its city-image as well as rebrand itself as the cultural city, in any case in its manifestation (Palonen, 2011, p.248). In respect to most of the approaches, Glasgow’s ECC year has also been concreticised the model of European integration: both progress as well as prosperity. Whereas during the periods of 1950s integration has been about finding approaches in order to improve various industrial development, more and more from the 1990 it has been about post-industrial confronts and inventive industries as the explanation for the post-Fordist transformation (Palonen, 2011, p.248). Glasgow has arrived at what has been regarded as the definitive pointer in the achievement in the leisure or the tourism industry at the time when evaluated favourably by the extremely effective reports by the Robert Palmer’s office that have become an essential element of the policy associated with the ECCs (Palonen, 2011, p.248). A vital measure of accomplishment here has been the raised level of consecutive overnight resides in the neighboring hotels mainly in the times following the super-event (Palonen, 2011, p.248), therefore pointing to the positive as well as sustained effect on tourism and the leisure industry across the EU countries. Glasgow has become the representation for consecutive ECCs. It therefore represented how, for its managers, the ECC performed not only to improve the existing value of the cultures (locally as well as significantly, in regard to the contrive sagacity of ‘European’ culture), this also be able to offer culture-driven urban alteration for the host metropolis. This was the thing that previous hosts, such as “Athens, Florence, Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris”, had not attained, mainly, given the declined requirement for post-industrial city-branding as well as urban alteration in these untimely ECCs. The ECC, in this context, had (Palonen, 2011, p.248) therefore becomes a means of transportation for the culture-driven post-Fordist change. As well enabling greater than one metropolis per year to grasp the label, the application stage offered a marketing chance for many metropolises. Here, the sub-EU national oppositions for candidacy allow small metropolises to promote themselves to the greater (national) audience. Certainly, the national opposition has been fundamental for promoting the minute metropolises and for constructing confidence – with the related projects – in respect to the local population (Palonen, 2011, p.249). Also in the United Kingdom, the bidding periods have been deemed as the marked achievement. With respect to the “UK City of Culture” opposition for 2013, all the shortlisted metropolises, such as “Birmingham, Derry, Norwich and Sheffield”, have all been deemed in requirement of the facelift, whether in appearance the post- Fordist growth or heritage-mining. This has been a major opportunity to articulate their charms to the possible investors and the opposition offered free advertising and an expression of ambitions for the cultureled economy (Palonen, 2011, p.249). Having realised the reduction in the traditional businesses, the post-Fordist explanation in Europe has become culture-led economy. Nevertheless, even though economic logic succeeded, the deliverance required from the European Capital of Culture programme has not been mechanical. It has been a composite policy-process as well as financing has not always accompany it. Resistance, power and struggles have been continual realities in the middle of the staging of the “European Capitals of Culture”. Multi-level cultural and traditional policy is greatly volatile to the revolutions on the local as well as on the national level – mainly as the European Union provides negligible funding to the ECCs. Certainly, most of the ECCs – incorporating the two under various studies in different articles and most particularly Ruhr 2010 – might be regarded as regional projects (Palonen, 2011, p.249). More effects on leisure industry: There is an augmented concentration given to the aspects of culture in the urban studies. Throughout the history, metropolises have always had substantial effect upon the cultural life. According to Kaskinen and Saarimaa (2009), moreover, particularly at the time phase of the last two decades different cultural policies have emerged as an important part of economic as well as physical regeneration strategies or policies in large number of European metropolises. As the reduction and desertion of metropolis centres had turn into a general characteristic in Europe within the time phase of late 1980s, metropolises started responding with the help of preparing diverse local strategies for attracting new private investment, expand their economies with the help of introducing different new service sectors, decrease unemployment and also grow local infrastructures (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.76). Decision-makers have started to pay greater attention to the growth of sectors such as leisure, tourism, also the media as well as other different cultural industries for the purpose of compensating for the employments lost in the process of de-industrialised areas, as well as for the purpose of improving the safety as well as accessibility of metropolis centres and also for the purpose of encouraging open-air, liberated events (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.76). According to the dictionary of the “American Marketing Association” for different marketing expressions marketing is regarded as the organisational role as well as a set of procedures for the purpose of creating, communicating and also bringing value to the customers and also for the purpose of managing the leisure customer associations in ways that advantage the organisation and also its stockholders (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.12) Value in an innovative economy is generated when all the technical modernisms, artistic originality as well as business entrepreneurship unite together in order to make as well as distribute an innovative product for the leisure customers (which are popularly known as the “Creative Clusters”). The innovative economy spotlights on creating as well as exploiting different intellectual property goods and services; like the arts, the films, games or various fashion designs, or with the help of providing different business-to-business innovative services, for example, advertising. Innovative or creative economy products generally differs rather a large number from the conventional products in regard to the industrial era. Specifically also the reasons behind new, innovative or creative approaches to market those various products as well as services are named for. The business in the innovative economy is generally based on the intellectual property, thoughts. Once the thought of for example computer software is expanded, copying it as well as spreading it all across the globe is often fast as well as reasonably priced and potential profits huge (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.12). On the contrary, most of the products associated with the creative economy are fairly strictly bound in regard to the specific place as well as moment, for instance, different theatrical performances or different popular historical or cultural concerts of specific places across the European countries. The same thought can even be transported to the customers using large varieties of different media. The book can, for instance, be utilised as the foundation for the ‘theatrical performance, movie, computer game or even a theme park’ (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.12). Due to the aforementioned aspects, different marketing methods in respect to the innovative economy require to be many-sided. Having just a thought isn’t enough; this also requires be productively commercializing as well as transforming into the business, for instance, different product, brand as well as practices which are closely associated with these cultural places (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.12). Also Kaskinen and Saarimaa (2009) have opined that at the time of the industrial age the economy based on bunch of production only required to understand citizens all together. The industrial age of business might be successful when this normalises its associations with citizens, and does not utilize its resources by considering each employee or each leisure consumer like an individual. Mainly, at the instant the industrial economic structure is making an effective way for the innovative economy and the globe is transforming into somewhat new, into the globe where the most important raw materials are regarded as knowledge and information, in place of steel and coal, as well as where the nearly all valuable products are thoughts and meanings which are produced with the help of the imagination rather than machines (known as “Creative Clusters”). This is the age of the innovative economy and in this respect marketing has a most crucial role in it (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.12). Also in respect to the impacts on the leisure and tourism industry of various countries across the European Union, significant level of positive impacts of the regeneration and effective presence of various cultural legacies and managing cultures are impressive (Kaskinen and Saarimaa, 2009, p.15). Conclusion: The role of the European Capital of Cultures has significantly been developed over the passage of time. The notion of regeneration of different cultures across the countries in the continent has also been an important factor in this process of development. Large number of cultural legacies has been developed for the purpose of maintaining the effectiveness of those varieties of cultures. Several new generations have revealed their preferences for different cultures and also for different countries’ people and societies. People are getting amazed by the varieties of cultural diversifications in regard to the European countries which are also increasing the popularity of the leisure and the tourism industry of these countries. The leisure industry in different countries of the European Union is increasingly becoming the most important part of the rising level of incomes. The hotel, food and beverages industry are increasingly becoming the most important contributor in the overall national income of these countries. The hunt for the changes in the cultural aspects of different European countries by large number of people across the globe are also encouraging the mind of the people living in these European countries to make further preservation and conservation of those cultures. Hence, significant amounts of monetary investments are carried forward by the government and private organisations on the process of development of various lost cultures’ preservation and conservation processes. The role of the European Capital of Cultures has thus been significant in terms of economic, social and cultural aspects. References: 1. Ex-Post Evaluation of 2010 European Capitals of Culture, (2011), Annexes to the Final Report for the European Commission DG Education and Culture, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/culture/2011/annexes_en.pdf (accessed on June 20, 2012) 2. Kaskinen, J. and Saarimaa, R. (2009), CULTURE AS INNOVATION The Search for Creative Power in Economies and Societies, Writers & Finland Futures Research Centre, Turku School of Economics, available at: http://ffrc.utu.fi/julkaisut/e-julkaisuja/eTutu_2009-5.pdf (accessed on June 20, 2012) 3. Mittag, J. (2011), European Capitals of Culture as Incentives for the Construction of European Identity? Paper prepared for the Biennial Conference of the European Union Studies Association, available at: http://euce.org/eusa/2011/papers/1g_mittag.pdf (accessed on June 20, 2012) 4. Palonen, E. (2011), European Capitals of Culture and the limits of the urban effects in Luxembourg and Sibiu 2007, Brazilian Journal of Urban Management, Vol.3, No.2, pp.245-256 Read More