Ο θεσμός της Ευρωπαϊκής Πολιτιστικής Πρωτεύουσας αποτελεί ένα από τα σημαντικότερα πολιτιστικά γεγονότα σε Ευρωπαϊκό επίπεδο. Η πόλη της Πάτρας συμμετείχε στη διοργάνωση του θεσμού το 2006, θέτοντας στόχους τόσο στον πολιτιστικό όσο στον οικονομικό, τουριστικό και επιχειρηματικό τομέα της πόλης. Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι ο προσδιορισμός και η καταγραφή της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς που επιτεύχθηκε από τη διοργάνωση του θεσμού στην πόλη της Πάτρας αξιοποιώντας δευτερογενή στοιχεία. Για την επίτευξη του ερευνητικού στόχου ο θεσμός μελετήθηκε αξιοποιώντας στοιχεία από αρθρογραφίες, μονογραφίες – βιβλία, δημοσιευμένα κείμενα, δημοσιευμένες μελέτες, δεδομένα εμπορικού επιμελητηρίου και ΕΛ.ΣΤΑ καθώς και από μηχανές διαδυκτιακής αναζήτησης. Το υπό διερεύνηση θέμα είναι αρκετά σύνθετο και κρίθηκε ότι η πιο κατάλληλη μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση είναι η μελέτη περίπτωσης. Ο μόνος διαθέσιμος τρόπος άντλησης των δεδομένων είναι αποκλειστικά οι υπάρχουσες βάσεις δεδομένων. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας τεκμηριώνουν την ύπαρξη σημαντικής πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς ως απόρροια του συγκεκριμένου πολιτιστικού γεγονότος. Τα δεδομένα δείχνουν ότι δημιουργήθηκαν πλήθος πολιτιστικών χώρων, αυξάνοντας σε σημαντικό βαθμό τις πολιτιστικές υποδομές της πόλης. Ενισχύθηκε η διεθνής φήμη της πόλης, η πόλη αναπτύχθηκε τουριστικά και επιχειρηματικά, δημιουργήθηκε και εμπεδώθηκε μια νέα κουλτούρα εθελοντισμού. / The institution of the European Capital of Culture is one of the most important cultural events at European level. The city of Patras participated in the organization of the institution in 2006, setting targets both cultural as economic, tourist and business area of the city. The aim of this thesis is the identification and recording of cultural heritage achieved by the organization of the institution in the city of Patras utilizing secondary data. To achieve the research objectives, the institution studied utilizing data from columnists, monographs - books, published texts, published studies, data and EL.STA Chamber of Commerce and Networking by search engines. The issue under investigation is very complex and found that the most appropriate methodological approach is the case study. The only available way to raise data is only through existing databases. The survey results document the existence of significant cultural heritage as a result of this cultural event. The data show that numerous cultural sites were created, increasing considerably the cultural infrastructure of the city. Strengthened the international reputation of the city, the city developed in both the tourist and business sectors and created and embedded a new culture of volunteering.

This diploma thesis deals with the relationship between culture, creativity and urban development with a special focus on the project of European Capital of Culture (ECoC) and its implementation in Pilsen. This study evaluates the positive effects and potential obstacles of this initiative, particularly in the case of Pilsen which has been awarded this prestigious title for 2015. This study discusses the state of the project and the situation in the city during the preparation period. It not only discusses the positive and negative aspects of candidacy, but it also attempts to capture some deep-rooted reasons that have led to current issues. The situation in Pilsen is becoming very problematic and further progress seems uncertain. The most burning issues in Pilsen that occur in other post-socialist cities as well, are lack of understanding, lack of political support, politicizing efforts, commercialization, parochialism and insufficient financial resources. Implementation of this project on a "European level", within these countries appears difficult. This thesis, therefore, proposes some recommendations that may conduce to a more successful realization of the project. Key words: culture, creativity, city, European Capital of Culture, Pilsen.

This diploma thesis studies culture as a potential factor of a town development. The effects of the culture and its action of a town development are described on illustration of impacts of the project European Capital of Culture. There is foreshadowed how this project affects an economic situation, as is employment, various economic indicators, a town budget or possibilities of a draw from external financing arrangements. Last but not least there are mentioned effects which the culture has in a sphere of social areas, a competitive advantage, or a landscape planning.

A context of increased competition between territories for attracting investments and people has led the cities to implement Marketing and Branding strategies. Those strategies should be adapted in order to fit the cities’ requirements and needs, consequently city managers and planners have to be initiated to those techniques. The city’s image is a central item here. Every possible asset of the city should be enhanced to improve people’s perception of the city (residents but also potential residents and visitors).   The purpose of the present study was to identify the main points that Umeå can develop to improve its image. We needed then an insight of people’s perception of the city. Also we wanted to investigate how city planners of Umeå could use the event of hosting the European Capital of Culture event in 2014 by observing people’s perception of the event. Accordingly we designed a questionnaire and got 250 valid responses including 70 from Swedish respondents and 180 from non-Swedish respondents. The findings can be used as simple pieces of advice for the city managers and planners of the city of Umeå and also to the Umeå Capital of Culture event’s staff.   To conduct our survey, we used a quantitative method and a non-probability sampling technique: the convenience one. The two versions of our questionnaire (in English and in Swedish) are composed of 28 questions divided identically in 3 parts (the first one being about the general image of the city, the second one being about the city’s performances in specific areas and the third one being about the European Capital of Culture event). We used mainly Likert-scales questions (composed of 5 items with 1 being “Totally Disagree” or “Not important at all” and 5 being “Totally Agree” or “Very Important”).   We found that among the areas investigated, culture had the greater impact on people’s perception of the city. So promoting cultural activity is a great ingredient in the “city-marketing mix”. Also the perception of the city’s economy can influence the image of this same city. Finally tourism is also a significant element of the “city-marketing mix” since it allows the image of the city to be spread all over the world.

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Purpose/aim: The purpose of this thesis is to examine if, and in that case how, the municipality of Umeå worked strategically with its communication during 2014 when Umeå was chosen as ”European Capital of Culture”. The research is mainly focused on the outlines of their communication plan, main goals, what  communication strategies the municipality has chosen to and their choice of media channels. Material/method: Two methods are used for this research; qualitative interviews with four employees within the communication team during Umeå2014 and a text analysis of three formal documents which provide the framework of communication policies and media strategies during Umeå2014. Results: The results clearly indicate a well structured, strategic planning outlined in the formal documents. The four people intreviewed all had a good knowledge of the policies and strategies in the documents, they also described their work in accordance with these.

Since introduced in 1985, the European Capital of Culture often figures as the most ‘successful’ European Union cultural policies. It is also regularly evoked as representative of contemporary strategies of culturally-inflected urban development. That is, where city leaderships look to ‘culture’ as a means to make their cities more competitive, and to manage urban populations. This dissertation uses this European cultural policy as an entry point through which to compare how culturally-inflected urban development has shaped understandings, representations and experiences of culture and social relations in two European cities: Liverpool, European Capital of Culture in 2008, and Marseilles, titleholder in 2013. The central question addressed here is whether it is possible to observe similar opportunities and barriers for urban dwellers of diverse backgrounds living in impoverished urban areas to participate in city and cultural-making processes. The two cities have comparative value because of similarities they share within multi-scalar hierarchies of power. Historically, both were significant global ports of empire; both have frequently been associated with large working class populations that are often racialised or criminalised; both are regularly depicted as ‘cities of crisis’ or ‘uncultured places’. The two urban localities are situated relatively low down on political and economic inter-urban league tables. Since the 1980s, they have become the sites of major market-led urban restructuring processes, exacerbated in the context of recent austerity policies. There are also significant variations; in national and local frameworks of urban governance, differing relations with ‘Europe’ and distinctive histories of race and class. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with a range of urban actors (urban dwellers in impoverished neighbourhoods, cultural policy workers and urban decision-makers) between 2004 and 2014, I explore how understandings and experiences of culture and social relations were differentially reconfigured in relation to this European cultural policy initiative. My findings point to similarities in the ways in which cultural policy materialised in these two places historically understood as lacking ‘cultural distinction.’ Dominant understandings of culture value were defined in relation to hierarchies of value constructed in social networks that extending beyond the city (the nation state, Europe, the world). In both, cultural policy-making was closely linked to economic growth policies. As elsewhere in the world, these trends resulted in growing professionalisation of the arts, gentrification of the city centre and increasing marginalisation of local cultural workers and urban dwellers living in impoverished areas, in processes inflected by gender, race and class. The study also draws out some of the complexities and unexpected outcomes of culturally-inflected urban policies. Nuancing studies on cultural diversity and gentrification, it offers an ethnographically sensitive yet critical reading of how such culturally-inflected urban development materialises in particular locations, contributing to broader understandings about the production of social difference and competing understandings of cultural value in cities, in unequal relations of power.

This Diploma thesis focuses on the evaluation of the Pilsen European Capital event. The evaluation is based on three aspects: marketing, visit rate and the attitude of the domestic population. The marketing section is focused on the description of the main marketing tools in terms of their efficiency and application. The visit rate is used to measure the success of the event to a certain extent. The attitude of the domestic population is applied to express the meaning of the Pilsen inhabitant approach and information accessibility while being the European Capital of Culture. The theoretical part describes the wide meaning of marketing management of destination and attitudes towards the event in general. The practical part informs about the European Capital of Culture title and the results of two surveys carried out with the stress on marketing, visit rate and the attitude of the domestic population. The final chapter includes the summary of the conclusions and suggestions for future improvement.

The purpose of the diploma thesis is to find out the perception of the image of the City of Pilsen in the context of the European Capital of Culture 2015 at the time of culminating final preparations for the project. The first part of the diploma thesis deals with the marketing of cities and municipalities and the communication mix. Furthermore, the thesis deals with general concept of image and image measurement possibilities on the basis of the Czech and foreign literature. The image of the cities is a concept that is currently coming to the fore in city and municipal politics. Cities and municipalities are becoming conscious of the importance of the opinions their citizens and visitors have about them. The diploma thesis discusses the marketing activities of the City of Pilsen and its particular departments and companies that are involved in the marketing of the city. The Image of the city is dependent on these activities. The perception of the image of the City of Pilsen is evaluated on the basis of own research. Firstly, the inquiries are focused on the City of Pilsen in general. Secondly, they are related to the marketing communications of the city and finally to the European Capital of Culture programme. The result of this research is an evaluation of city's image and possible recommendations for the improvement of the current situation.

Creative economies can establish sustainable development through co-creative cultural projects. Project management practice and particularly project governance can balance creativity and control fostering the co-creative environment that inspires and ignites innovation. The success of those cultural projects is the platform that leads to long-term development and growth.   This thesis work aims to answer the following research question, “How will project governance structure provide the environment for the co-creation approach to flourish and enhance project performance?” The objective of this research is to examine how the project governance structure creates a conducive environment for the co-creation approach to burgeon and boost project performance.   The authors investigate the subject by building a theoretical frame of reference, formulating a proposition and designing the research strategy in order to answer the research question. This research applies the qualitative method through semi-structured interviews based on a case study on Umeå 2014 as the ECoC. Thirteen respondents participated in this research, all of whom are members of the Umeå 2014 Project Team. As secondary data, six interviews with Umeå 2014 project owners were investigated and analysed in order to support and increase the reliability of the research findings from the primary data analysis. All primary and secondary data were analysed based on the theoretical framework.   The research revealed that project governance nurtures the environment necessary for co-creation to flourish. The co-creation approach will flourish when developed within the mixture of hierarchical and relational project governance structures that foster co-creative elements. The synergy between co-creation and project governance will boost the potential to achieve sustainable development and long-term growth.