Find below highlights from our 10 year anniversary symposium, launching Impacts 08 ~ 18 | #Impacts18, the major research programme I have directed since 2006 on the impacts and long term legacy of hosting a European Capital of Culture. The Symposium opened a global conversation about the value of being a ‘‘#cityofculture’ after 30 years of…
I have just published this academic paper within the Urban Studies Journal. You can access it here Abstract This paper looks into the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme as a leading example of culture-led regeneration intervention aimed at renewing or diversifying the economic base and positioning of host cities. One of the key claims…
On 14 June 2016, I am speaking on the implications of devolution, rebalancing and the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ for the arts and cultural ecologies of the north of England. The Art of Devolution: Culture and the North aims to provide a space for civic, cultural and academic partners to discuss plans and ambitions for arts and culture in times…
I have interrogated cities and event-led cultural policy-making since 1999. I started by revisiting the cultural legacy of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games to inform my work on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festivals. This was followed by research on the legacy of Glasgow 1990 as European Capital of Culture; the experience of Cultureshock – cultural programme for…
On the 23rd September I am speaking at Sharing Cultures 2015 – the Fourth International Conference on Intangible Heritage. My paper discusses findings from my research on the impacts of the Liverpool World Heritage Site on city narratives and ambitions. The paper challenges the false perception that there is an irreconciliable tension between urban development and heritage protection. The project: In…
Find below my contribution to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ‘Knowledge Exchange 2015‘, an excellent forum dedicated to discussing ways of debating, evidencing and pushing forward the societal values of Public Service Media across Europe. The event attacted 100 participants from 32 countries, representing 31 different broadcasters. I spoke on the importance of capturing cultural…
Presentation at AIMAC 2015 (Aix-en-Provence & Marseille) My paper abstract, below: Ever since the widespread acceptance that the arts can have economic value, artistic interventions have been commonly interrogated through an economic and, often, purely instrumental lens. Economic or – at most – socioeconomic effect narratives and associated methodologies to capture such effects have…
I am in Helsinki presenting the paper ‘The cultural value of event-led city regeneration. What makes a European Capital of Culture sustainable’ . My presentation is part of the international symposium Culture(s) in Sustainable Futures: Theories, Policies, Practices, organised by the University of Jyväskylä as part of a COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) research programme. Find my…
Urban Myths? Transforming narratives of place via the media representation of one-off international cultural events Paper presented at: Mediated City – Los Angeles Hosting a major one-off cultural event has become a key aspiration of cities attempting to renew or change their local economic base and position themselves as world, international or national cultural centres.…
Lessons and legacies from researching Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture The five year Impacts 08 research programme I have directed since 2006 culminated with a major international conference in Liverpool on the 12th March 2010. This conference officially launched the final report on the impacts of Liverpool hosting the European Capital of Culture title in…
Garcia, B. (2007) ‘Symbolic maps of the city: Visualising conflicting narratives to capture the meaning(s) of place’ in: Mapping the City Seminar, Impacts 08, CAVA, City in Film and Institute for Popular Music, Liverpool (7 Nov) In the context of culture-led regeneration initiatives, the representation of a city becomes a strongly contested issue. Local…