The European Capital of Culture 2016 Effect

The book analyzes the set of consequences of Polish cities' participation in the competition for the title of European Capital of Culture 2016, which was held between 2007 and 2011.

The European Capital of Culture is one of the European Union's most important cultural programmes, its significance transcending a narrow understanding of the cultural sphere. The scheme has been one of the foremost mechanisms contributing to the urban revival of European cities and increasingly close integration in many areas of social and cultural activity. The ECOC 2016 competition (2007-2011), entered by 11 Polish cities, took place in an exceptionally favourable context. The ECOC 2016 competition in Poland served as an impetus for many changes to take place in the participant cities. These particularly applied to the sociocultural sphere, encompassing such issues as a city's identity and social capital. Consequently, it became possible to create new urban narratives which also contributed to changes regarding the cities' images. In some cases, this could even be described as a real revolution which was able to take place as a result of unprecedented social mobilisation.

Autorentext

Pawe Kubicki is a sociologist and works as an associate professor at the Institute of European Studies at the Jagiellonian University, Poland. His fields of interest are the sociology and anthropology of the city, European integration, nations and nationalisms in Central Europe. Böena Gierat-Bierö is a political scientist and works as an associate professor at the Institute of European Studies at the Jagiellonian University, Poland. Her academic interests concentrated at cultural policies and European integration processes. Joanna Orzechowska-Wac awska is a sociologist and economist. She works as an assistant professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of economics and sociology. Her current research focuses on the issues of national identity, contemporary nationalism and populism in Europe.

Klappentext

The European Capital of Culture is one of the European Union s most important cultural programmes, its significance transcending a narrow understanding of the cultural sphere. The scheme has been one of the foremost mechanisms contributing to the urban revival of European cities and increasingly close integration in many areas of social and cultural activity. The ECOC 2016 competition (2007-2011), entered by 11 Polish cities, took place in an exceptionally favourable context. The ECOC 2016 competition in Poland served as an impetus for many changes to take place in the participant cities. These particularly applied to the sociocultural sphere, encompassing such issues as a city s identity and social capital. Consequently, it became possible to create new urban narratives which also contributed to changes regarding the cities images. In some cases, this could even be described as a real revolution which was able to take place as a result of unprecedented social mobilisation.

Inhalt

Introduction

1. The ECOC Programme and Urban Renewal
2. Research Premises and Methodology
3. Identity and Urban Narratives
   The foreignness of cities as longue-durée heritage
   The ECOC competition as a generational experience
   Urban narratives
   The image of the cities
   Social capital
   Lublin:
   ód:
   Katowice:
4. Cities' Cultural Policies in the Light of the ECOC
   Competition
5. Urban Networks. Coalitions of Cities
   From tournament of cities to coalition of cities
6. Infrastructure. New Cultural Institutions
   Between Bilbao and Valencia
   New cultural institutions in Poland in the light of the ECOC 2016
   applications
   The Katowice Culture Zone. Creativity in a modernist form
   6 Contents
   Gdask institutions: politics and culture
   Szczecin and the best buildings in Europe and the world
   Wrocaw's 'giant': the National Forum of Music
7. Europeanness and the Europeanisation of Polish Cities
   The role of the ECOC competition in the debate on Europeanness
   and Europeanisation of cities
   The Europeanness of Polish cities in the light of the ECOC 2016
   competition
8. Summary of Research

9. Appendix
   Analysis of the applications of Polish cities bidding for the title of
   European Capital of Culture 2016
   Analysis of the initial programme briefs
   1.Gdask: Freedom of Culture. Culture of Freedom
   2.Katowice: City of Gardens
   3.Lublin: City in Dialogue
   4.ód: (R)evolution of Imagination
   5.Pozna: Pozna Cultural Storm
   6.Szczecin: Power to Join
   7.Wrocaw: Spaces for Beauty
   Cities in a process of change: redefining identity, re-evaluating the
   function of the city, metamorphosis of the image
   1.Gdask an axiological discourse on freedom
   2.Katowice: from industrial city to garden city
   3.Lublin: generating local culture and aiming eastwards
   4.ód: revolution versus evolution

   5.Pozna: between economics and culture
   6.Szczecin: cultural crossing of borders
   7.Wrocaw: mental metamorphoses
   Contents 7
   Adaptation of European ideas (selected examples)
   1.The European dimension criterion
   2.The City and residents criterion
   Innovativeness of the project (best examples)
   Predicted short- and long-term consequences of implementation of
   the ECOC 2016 projects
   Bibliography