TY - BOOK AU - Bożena Gierat-Bieroń AU - Joanna Orzechowska-Wacławska AU - Paweł Kubicki PY - 2020 CY - Berlin, Germany PB - Peter Lang Verlag SN - 2193-2352 SN - 9783631824153 TI - The European Capital of Culture 2016 Effect T2 - How the ECOC Competition Changed Polish Cities DO - 10.3726/b17052 UR - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1059050 N2 - The European Capital of Culture is one of the European Union’s most important cultural programmes, its significance transcending a narrow understanding of the cultural sphere. The scheme has been one of the foremost mechanisms contributing to the urban revival of European cities and increasingly close integration in many areas of social and cultural activity. The ECOC 2016 competition (2007-2011), entered by 11 Polish cities, took place in an exceptionally favourable context. The ECOC 2016 competition in Poland served as an impetus for many changes to take place in the participant cities. These particularly applied to the sociocultural sphere, encompassing such issues as a city’s identity and social capital. Consequently, it became possible to create new urban narratives which also contributed to changes regarding the cities’ images. In some cases, this could even be described as a real revolution which was able to take place as a result of unprecedented social mobilisation. KW - European Capital of Culture, Europeanisation, Urban Renewal, City/Smart City, Cultural Identity, Urban Policies LA - English ER -