Europe’s Capitals of Culture. From Celebration to Regeneration, to Polycentric Capitalization

The European City/Capital of Europe (ECOC) is the EU’s most direct attempt, both practical and symbolic, at substantiating a ‘European cultural space’. As such, the program stands at the very heart of the EU’s cultural activity. In this chapter, I focus on this institutional attempt to foster a ‘European identity’ as well as on the local response. I will first analyze at the evolution of the ECOC as a policy (section 1) and then in terms of actual implementation (section 2). On this basis I will then propose a periodization that takes into account, unlike the majority of literature on the subject, the European dimension. This will show how this dimension transcends the usual chronology with respect to the ECOC’s shift from the high cultural festivals of its early years to more recent city marketing approaches (a trajectory that has been analyzed in more depth by others, see Jürgen Mittag’s chapter in particular). I concentrate on how the evolution of the program is reflected in the European component and its significance (section 3).