European Port Cities and Cultural Mega Events : Event-led urban regeneration within port-city relationships

Tommarchi, Enrico

Abstract

Whether with aims of physical or social regeneration, repositioning, or diversification of the local economy, policy makers in European port cities appear increasingly interested in the regenerative potential of cultural mega events. However, the interconnections between this festivalisation and the exceptionalism of port cities has seldom been explored as an aspect of port-city relationships.
This study explores cultural mega events (CMEs) and event-led urban regeneration (ELR) in European port cities, investigating how they impact on, and are influenced by, port-city relationships. It examines the mutual connections between ELR and the spatiality of the port-city interface and the socio-cultural and symbolic aspects of port-city relationships. The study involves a comparative analysis of four European port cities where CMEs have been celebrated in the last twenty years, namely Hull, Rotterdam, Genoa and Valencia. A critical realist ontology is the overarching framework of this research, which is informed by methodological accounts of comparative urbanism. Research methods include desk research, policy analysis, semi-structured interviews, street surveys, observations and mapping.
The research shows how ELR has been playing a role within the evolution of port-city relationships. It suggests that processes of urban regeneration should be taken into account while examining the retightening of the relationships between ports and cities, for example in the case of the engagement of port authorities in cultural activity. However, in the long term, tension between maritime activities and consolidated cultural functions appears likely to arise, in connection with structural processes such as gentrification and touristification that may foster spatial disparities. Where traditional socio-spatial and cultural port-city links were overridden, these schemes fostered commodification, eroded authenticity and contributed to the demaritimisation of port cities.

Citation

Tommarchi, E. (2020). European Port Cities and Cultural Mega Events : Event-led urban regeneration within port-city relationships. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4913015

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Keywords: Sociology
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4913015
• Additional Information: Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology; University of Hull
• Award Date: May 1, 2020