European Capital of Culture

European Capital of Culture
The Cathedral of Turku, one of the most notable historical buildings in Finland. Turku is one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2011
Tallinn's skyline. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and is one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2011 along with Turku.

The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension.

Preparing a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for the city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city's image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale.

In 1985, former actress Melina Mercouri, then Greece’s Minister of Culture, and her French counterpart Jack Lang came up with the idea of designating an annual Capital of Culture to bring Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values.

The Commission of the European Union manages the title and each year the Council of Ministers of the European Union formally designates European Capitals of Culture: more than 40 cities have been designated so far.

An international panel of cultural experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union.

A 2004 study conducted by Robert Palmer for the European Commission, demonstrated that the choice of European Capital of Culture served as a catalyst for the cultural development and the transformation of the city.[1] Consequently, the beneficial socio-economic development and impact for the chosen city are now also considered in determining the chosen cities.

Contents

History

The European Capital of Culture programme was initially called the European City of Culture and was conceived in 1983 by Melina Mercouri, then serving as Greek Minister of Culture. Mercouri believed that at the time, culture was not given the same attention as politics and economics and a project for promoting European cultures within the member states should be pursued. The European City of Culture programme was launched in the summer of 1985 with Athens being the first title-holder. During the German Presidency of 1999, the European City of Culture programme was renamed the European Capital of Culture.

List of European Cities/Capitals of Culture

EU Capitals of Culture
Greece Athens (1985)  
Germany Berlin (1988)  
France Paris (1989)  
Spain Madrid (1992)  
Portugal Lisbon (1994)  
Sweden Stockholm (1998)  
Czech Republic Prague (2000)  
Netherlands Rotterdam (2001)  
Romania Sibiu (2007)  
Turkey Istanbul (2010)  

According to the official EU website.[2] The cities and countries from 2020–2029 are not yet finalised.


Cities that have shown interest within their countries to bid for becoming European Capital of Culture:

See also

References

  1. ^ Palmer, Robert. "Study on the European Cities and Capitals of Culture and the European Cultural Months (1995-2004)". European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/culture/key-documents/doc926_en.htm. Retrieved 24 January 2010. 
  2. ^ Official EU website

Sources

  • García, B. (2005) “De-constructing the City of Culture: The long term cultural legacies of Glasgow 1990”, in: Review Issue of Urban Studies (vol. 42, No. 5/6, pp. 1–28).
  • García, B. (2004) “Cultural Policy in European Cities: Lessons from Experience, Prospects for the Future”, in: Special edition on Cultural Policy and Regeneration, Local Economy (vol 19, No. 4, pp. 312–326).
  • García, B. (2004) “Urban Regeneration, Arts Programming and Major events: Glasgow 1990, Sydney 2000 and Barcelona 2004”, in: Gibson, L. & Stevenson, D. (Eds) Special Issue of the International Journal of Cultural Policy: Urban Space and the Uses of Culture (vol 10, No. 1, pp. 103–118).

External links

Current cities
Past cities
Future cities
Potential European Capitals of Culture
v · d · eEuropean Capitals of Culture

1985 Athens · 1986 Florence · 1987 Amsterdam · 1988 West Berlin · 1989 Paris · 1990 Glasgow · 1991 Dublin · 1992 Madrid · 1993 Antwerp · 1994 Lisbon · 1995 Luxembourg City · 1996 Copenhagen · 1997 Thessaloniki · London 1998 Stockholm · 1999 Weimar · 2000 Reykjavík · Bergen · Helsinki · Brussels · Prague · Kraków · Santiago de Compostela · Avignon · Bologna · 2001 Rotterdam · Porto · 2002 Bruges · Salamanca · 2003 Graz · 2004 Genoa · Lille · 2005 Cork · 2006 Patras · 2007 Luxembourg City and Greater Region · Sibiu · 2008 Liverpool · Stavanger · 2009 Linz · Vilnius · 2010 Essen · Istanbul · Pécs · 2011 Turku · Tallinn · 2012 Maribor · Guimarães · 2013 Košice · Marseille · 2014 Umeå · Riga · 2015 Mons · Plzeň · 2016 San Sebastián · Wrocław

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