Our research on the European Capital of Culture programme

ICC Director, Dr. Beatriz Garcia, has researched the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) initiative since 2002 and has documented the experience of all ECoC hosts (over 65 cities, in more than 30 European countries) since the initiative’s launch in 1985.

This research has focused on studying the symbolic regeneration potential and long-term cultural legacies of hosting an ECoC, as well as its economic, physical and social impacts.

The ICC was created in 2010 to pioneer methodologies for the analysis of the multiple impacts of major cultural interventions and has become a world referent in comparative indicator analysis and longitudinal studies. Liverpool has been a focal point for our studies, but our research framework has also been applied in the study of the legacy of Glasgow 1990 and is a referent in other ECoC research programmes, from Stavanger 2008, to Turku 2011, Marseille-Provence 2013, Aarhus 2017 and Leeuwarden 2018.

Explore the sidebar for an overview of the main European Capital of Culture projects Beatriz has directed since 2002.