European Capital of Culture

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 for the European Commission, known as the "Palmer report", 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.

History

San Sebastián (Spain), the European Capital of Culture for 2016
Wrocław (Poland) is the European Capital of Culture for 2016 along with San Sebastián.

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.[2]

List of European Capitals of Culture

European Capitals of Culture
Year # City Country Notes/Links
1985 Athens  Greece
1986 Florence  Italy
1987 Amsterdam  Netherlands
1988 Berlin  Germany
1989 Paris  France
1990 Glasgow  United Kingdom
1991 Dublin  Ireland
1992 Madrid  Spain
1993 Antwerp  Belgium
1994 Lisbon  Portugal
1995 Luxembourg  Luxembourg
1996 Copenhagen  Denmark
1997 Thessaloniki  Greece
1998 Stockholm  Sweden
1999 Weimar  Germany
2000 Avignon  France
Bergen  Norway
Bologna  Italy
Brussels  Belgium
Helsinki  Finland
Kraków  Poland
Prague  Czech Republic
Reykjavík  Iceland
Santiago de Compostela  Spain
2001 Rotterdam  Netherlands
Porto  Portugal
2002 Bruges  Belgium
Salamanca  Spain
2003 Graz  Austria
2004 Genoa  Italy
Lille  France
2005 Cork  Ireland
2006 Patras  Greece
2007 Sibiu  Romania Sibiu 2007
Luxembourg  Luxembourg
2008 Liverpool  United Kingdom
Stavanger  Norway
2009 Vilnius  Lithuania
Linz  Austria
2010 Essen  Germany representing the Ruhr as Ruhr.2010
Istanbul  Turkey
Pécs  Hungary
2011 Turku  Finland
Tallinn  Estonia
2012 Guimarães  Portugal
Maribor  Slovenia Maribor 2012
2013 Marseille  France Marseille-Provence 2013
Košice  Slovakia
2014 Riga  Latvia
Umeå  Sweden Umeå 2014
2015 Mons  Belgium Mons 2015
Plzeň  Czech Republic Plzeň 2015
2016 San Sebastián  Spain San Sebastián 2016
Wrocław  Poland Wrocław 2016
2017 Aarhus  Denmark Aarhus 2017
Pafos  Cyprus Pafos 2017
2018 Leeuwarden  Netherlands Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018
Valletta  Malta Valletta 2018
2019 Matera  Italy Matera 2019
Plovdiv  Bulgaria Plovdiv 2019
2020 TBD 26 March 2016[3]  Croatia candidate cities:[4] Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka / eliminated:[5] Đakovo, Split, Varazdin, Zadar, Zagreb
TBD 11 July 2016[6]  Ireland candidate cities:[7] Galway, Limerick, Waterford/Three sisters / eliminated:[8] Dublin
2021 1 shortlist on 10 December 2015
TBD in October 2016[9]
 Romania candidate cities:[10] Baia Mare, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara /
eliminated:Craiova, Iasi, Sfântu Gheorghe, Târgu Mureş,[11]
2 shortlist in February 2016[9]  Greece candidate cities:[12] Delphi, Eleusis, Ermoupoli, Ioannina, Kalamata, Nafplio, Sparta, Tripoli, Corfu
31 shortlist on 11 December 2015
TBD in October 2016[9]
TBA candidate cities: Herceg Novi( Montenegro),[13] Novi Sad( Serbia),[14]/
eliminated: Cetinje,,[15] Belgrade
2022 bids until 24 May 2016[16][17]  Lithuania
 Luxembourg
2023 TBA  Hungary
TBA  United Kingdom potential candidate cities: Dundee,[18]Leeds, Milton Keynes[19]
2024 1 TBA  Estonia
2 TBA  Austria tender to be opened in 2018, announcement in 2020 at latest[20]
31 TBA TBA
2025 TBA  Slovenia
TBA  Germany potential candidate cities: Bremen,[21] Dresden,[22] Frankfurt,[23] Magdeburg,[24] Nürnberg,[25] Würzburg[26]
2026 TBA  Slovakia
TBA  Finland
2027 1 TBA  Latvia
2 TBA  Portugal
31 TBA TBA
2028 TBA  Czech Republic
TBA  France
2029 TBA  Poland
TBA  Sweden
2030 1 TBA  Cyprus
2 TBA  Belgium
31 TBA TBA
2031 TBA  Malta
TBA  Spain
2032 TBA  Bulgaria
TBA  Denmark
2033 1 TBA  Netherlands
2 TBA  Italy
31 TBA TBA

1 A new framework makes it possible for a city in a candidate country or potential candidate for EU membership to hold the title every third year as of 2021. This will be selected through an open competition, meaning that cities from various countries may compete with each other.[27]

See also

References

  1. Palmer, Robert (2004) "European Cities and Capitals of Culture" Part I. Part II. Study prepared for the European Commission
  2. Kiran Klaus Patel, ed., The Cultural Politics of Europe: European Capitals of Culture and European Union since the 1980s (London: Routledge, 2013)
  3. "Produljen rok gradovima kandidatima za Europsku prijestolnicu kulture" (in Croatian). 1 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  4. Devet hrvatskih gradova natječe se za titulu Europska prijestolnica kulture 2020.
  5. Rijeka, Pula, Osijek i Dubrovnik u drugom krugu natjecanja za europsku prijestolnicu kulture
  6. "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS- EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2020" (PDF). Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. October 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  7. European Capital of Culture Ireland 2020 – how the 4 Irish bids are shaping up
  8. 1 2 3 Two cities short-listed for the title of European Capital of Culture 2021 in a candidate country or a potential candidate to EU membership
  9. Romanian bid for European Capital of Culture 2021
  10. "Târgu-Mureş, Capitală europeană a culturii în 2021? Ce oraşe cu patrimonii culturale bogate se vor alătura marelui proiect". Zi de Zi Mures (in Romanian). July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  11. List of past current and future ECOC cities
  12. Novi Sad May Become A European Capital Of Culture In 2021
  13. Cetinje će podnijeti kandidaturu za Evropsku prijestonicu kulture 2021
  14. European Capital of Culture 2022
  15. Appel à candidatures pour la Capitale européenne de la Culture 2022
  16. http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/dundee/dundee-sets-sights-on-european-capital-of-culture-bid-1.884745
  17. "European Capital of Culture - Milton Keynes Council". www.milton-keynes.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  18. "BKA-353.120/0144-I/4/2014" (PDF). Bundeskanzleramt Österreich. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  19. Kulturhauptstadt 2025 – soll Bremen es nochmal versuchen?
  20. Dresden will Kulturhauptstadt 2025 werden
  21. Frankfurt soll sich gemeinsam mit Offenbach bewerben
  22. Magdeburg als Europäische Kulturhauptstadt 2025
  23. "Nürnberg verhält sich nicht wie Kulturhauptstadt"
  24. Würzburger OB offen für Bewerbung
  25. "European Capitals of Culture". European Union. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.

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