Mega-events and heritage: The experience of five European cities

Edited by Davide Ponzini, Franco Bianchini, Julia Georgi-Nerantzia Tzortzi and Joanna Sanetra-Szeliga

In the past, many cities used mega-events as a strategy to boost development. The creation of new facilities and infrastructures for mega-events typically targeted areas of expansion outside of historic city fabric. Today, on the contrary, mega-event organizers are increasingly opting more for the re-use of existing facilities and areas. This paradigm shift represents both a potential opportunity and threat for heritage-rich cities in Europe. This book explores the relationships between the planning and implementation of mega-events and cultural heritage through the in-depth study of five cases: Genoa 2004 European Capital of Culture, Milan Expo 2015, Wrocław 2016 European Capital of Culture, Hull 2017 UK City of Culture, Pafos 2017 European Capital of Culture. The book draws on these case studies in order to spark further research and policy debate regarding the emerging opportunities and threats for context-specific policies and projects, for long-term urban development, for cooperation among actors and capacity building at different levels, for the multiple social and cultural identities that help heritage and cities to flourish.

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This publication includes the National Case Studies Reports and it corresponds to one key output of WP1 (activity A1.4 in particular) in the JPICH financed project “HOMEE – Heritage Opportunities/threats within Mega-Events in Europe”.

HOMEE – Literature Review Regarding Mega-events/Cultural Heritage

This document is the first deliverable (A1.2) of the “HOMEE – Heritage Opportunities/threats within Mega-Events in Europe: Changing environments, new challenges and possible solutions for preservation in mega-events embedded in heritage-rich European cities” research project, financed under the European call “JPICH Heritage in Changing Environments.” The research explores for the first time the relationships between the planning and implementation of mega-events and cultural heritage in European cities. The literature review provides background concepts and a sound critical framework for the analyses of the research and its case studies by carrying out an extensive trawl of the existing literature, identifying and teasing out key messages emerging from both academic sources and high-level policy documents. Exploring these relations is important because one can find abundant literature and longstanding debates both on mega-events and heritage topics. Yet there is also a clear gap in research about the relationship between the two. The HOMEE literature review not only describes these gaps but also explains the reasons why it is important to address them.

 

You can download the Literature Review file here: 

https://www.tau-lab.polimi.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/00-Lit-Review-FINAL.pdf

 

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HOMEE – National Case Studies: Report Briefs

This report of the five national case studies (Milan 2015, Genoa 2004, Hull 2017, Pafos  2017, Wrocław 2016) derives from the first set of actions of the HOMEE project. It provides new information on recent events and highlights important issues pertaining to cultural heritage. The information collected also provides valuable insights for academics and the APs connected to these events to show the far-reaching impacts and potential of their events in historic contexts and for their legacies. The aim of the National Case Studies Report Briefs is to present a broad overview of each case as well as highlight the key themes and findings.

You can download the Briefs here: 

https://www.tau-lab.polimi.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Case-Study-Briefs-FINAL.pdf