Seeking external validation: Galway a European Capital of Culture

The appeal is simple and very easy to understand, hosting national and European Capitals of Culture brings with it a whole host of positive benefits, from esteem and civic pride, to cold hard cash. Heads have been turned by marquee examples; Liverpools reign as ECOC netted the city close to half a billion pounds according to some estimates. Visitors to Glasgow pre and post its designation in 1990 can attest to the transformative nature that such designations bring. The first European City of Culture scheme was designated to Athens in 1985 (EC, 2009, p.3). For some, this marked a distinct change in European policy towards art, music, and literature; `where culture art and creativity, where culture was characterised as `no less important than technology, commerce and the economy (EC, 2009, p.4). The preliminary designations were given to perceived traditional hubs of European culture and arts, like Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam (Griffiths, 2006, p. 417). Seeking to turn away from conventional cities of culture, more daring designations were made with what were characterised as `second cities or cities undergoing processes of de-industrialisation, like Glasgow in 1990 (Mooney, 2004, p. 328). Since Glasgow, the raison detre of the ECoC changed fundamentally. Known as the Glasgow effect it came to encompass urban regeneration as a key element of the ECoC programme (Mooney, 2004, p. 328). From this point on, the nature of relationship, the dichotomy existing between culture and commerce as mutually exclusive entities changed entirely. Instead, the relationship became more of a marriage of interchangeable policies. The success of Glasgow in 1990 and the provision of culture-led regeneration enshrined within the concept marked a shift in the rules and regulations surrounding the bidding process (Garcia and Cox, 2013, p. 41).