City of Culture runners-up create ‘positive’ legacies

Cities that were unsuccessful in their bids to become UK City of Culture (UKCoC) or European Capital of Culture (ECoC) say the application process helped create positive legacies, according to the findings of new research.

The report, UK Cities of Culture: stakeholder interviews with runner-up applicants, presents the findings of interviews and group discussions with nine cities that bid for either UKCoC or ECoC between 2017 and 2023. The participating cities consisted of four UK-based applicants, with the rest Europe-based.

The overwhelming majority of stakeholders consulted said they agree that working on a major event bid resulted in important legacies that benefited the city, while also changing careers for the better.

Examples of positive legacies shared by participants included placing culture at the centre of city development, raising ambition across the city, cross-sectoral working, engaging citizens in new ways and bringing adaptability and new skills to the creative sector.

Interviewees said the bidding team composition and surrounding network, including the role of local authorities and other key stakeholders, contributed to lasting cultural legacies. 

The report’s conclusion says that many of the legacies these cities enjoy are similar to those that winning cities aspire to. It adds that runner-up cities end up benefitting from exploring and developing the opportunities emerging out of their bidding experience in their own time, with less external pressure than bid winners.

“The value of having embarked on a bidding process is that such exercise provides cities with a springboard, a focus and/or a common agenda that city stakeholders may not have jointly agreed to otherwise,” the report explains.

The report adds that the bidding framework needs to offer a balance between one-off events of City of Culture hosting requirements and the long-term needs of a city to support a lasting legacy.

Bid again?

Despite sharing the legacy benefits of their bid, none of the stakeholders interviewed aspired to work on other UKCoC or ECoC bids.

The four UK-based interviewees cited a lack of resources and capacity as a reason for not bidding again, as well as the belief a valuable legacy had already been secured by the previous bid.

Some interviewees also said they believed the UKCoC initiative was not the best fit for their specific city characteristics.

The report explains that two UK-based interviewees suggested the City of Culture award appears based on a ‘deficit model’, aimed at cities that have the biggest needs, placing cities with an already-strong cultural offer at a disadvantage. 

However, some stakeholders did indicate that some of the candidate cities from the latest UKCoC edition, which was won by Bradford, are considering bidding again.

DCMS involvement

The report also says all UK-based stakeholders agreed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has an important role to play in helping bidding cities make the most of the opportunity to be part of a large-scale bidding process.

Interviewees said DCMS could improve the professionalisation of the bidding process by offering greater clarity around timeframes and allowing adequate lead-up times to prepare submissions while also offering curated information, such as group sessions for applicants.

The stakeholders also said the £40,000 incentive provided for bidding was “extremely valuable” and essential for the future of the programme, while the report adds that post-bidding support for shortlisted cities can make “an enormous difference in the immediate aftermath of the announcement”.