FINAL REPORT

The aim of the research project was to study the planning, implementation and monitoring of a European Capital of Culture (ECoC). Collected data has resulted in the creation of a comprehensive database based on empirical material consisting of interviews, focus group sessions, observations, document- and media-analyzes, etc. In addition has ethnographic studies been implemented containing shadowing of significant actors at critical events in the interaction between city management and citizens.

Results

At the center of the synthesizing analysis, stand the question of how the design and the organization of a city development effort of this scale can be understood. The results reveal how strategy making is enabled or constrained by organizational and social practices as well as how the 'sweet-spot' of city regeneration can occur where urban and cultural planning are aligned. From a planning perspective, the success depends on a fusion of top-down and bottom-up action and the study emphasizes the importance of anchoring the initiative among its citizens in order to achieve set goals. The meaning of 'co-creation' in a city context therefore creates an essential basis for the analysis. However, performing 'co-creative practices' within a city context is indeed a challenge. When a city seek to exploit new windows of developmental opportunity, responsiveness to a wide set of stakeholders (citizens, governments, academia, business, non-profits, interest groups etc.) are required. Consequently, strategies: (1) need be grounded in everyday activities (co-creative practices), (2) need to include interaction with citizens in a comprehensive way (action nets) and (3) need to be intended to face challenges in terms of managing contradicting wills (tensions, dualities and paradoxes). The meaning and the analysis of these three dimensions is further developed in the summarizing book 'Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth'.

New research questions generated by the project

The research project has generated new interesting issues which calls for further research. On the topic of tensions, dualities and paradoxes, several papers has been produced that puts contradicting demands in focus. Above all, has the tension between hard and soft infrastructures in urban design been analyzed. More specifically, has architects work with the dual needs of incorporating both creative expressions (form) and user-defined preferences (function) in their architectural efforts been examined. Significant conceptual work has also been done intended to clarify the differences between various organizational tensions theoretically. This work has, among other things, resulted in a doctoral thesis where the project participants have co-authored articles.

Another theme originating from the research project is about sustainable development (legacy). The temporary mobilization of a development effort of this magnitude are often organized as a portfolio of projects which stretches the boundaries of what is normally managed inside the municipal organization. This often leads to a division into clusters of investments devoted to separate areas in a city. In our studied case the cultural investments are now complemented with investments in what is referred to as the 'smart city' development. Just as the Capital of Culture initiative mobilized a comprehensive action net with accompanying infrastructure investments in certain areas of the city, this initiative assume the same mechanisms. From this point of view there are significant transfer opportunities between our completed research project and future research efforts. In some of the papers (see list of publications) we have analyzed the consequences of this 'projectification' and the enabling and constraining effects it has on city development as a whole. Research efforts on this theme (which includes comparisons between what we call 'projective cities') continues and has also rendered in future arrangement of tracks at the Nordic Academy of Management Conference 2017 and the European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) Colloquium 2018.

International Connections

The research project has been tied to an international reference group that has followed the research process from the beginning to the end (the members consisted of professors Stewart Clegg, UTS, Sydney Australia; Barbara Czarniawska, School of Business, Economics and Law, Sweden; Chris Carter, University of Edinburgh, UK; Martin Kornberger, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark; Orvar Löfgren, Lund University, Sweden and Guje Sevón, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden). Reference group meetings were held at the Copenhagen Business School and at Umeå University in conjunction with the Capital of Culture year. Moreover, experience has been exchanged at research conferences in connection to convening and organizing of research tracks as well through the roles of guest editorship in a scientific journal (see specification below).

Communication of research results

Convening and organizing of tracks at research conferences:
 
'Strategy, Design and Organizing in City Development Processes' at the 30th European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) Colloquium 2014 in Rotterdam, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Theme: 'Reimagining, Rethinking, Reshaping: Organizational Scholarship in Unsettled Times', July 3–5.

'Projective Cities: Designing, Organizing and Living in Urban Spaces' at APROS/EGOS Conference 2015 at UTS Business School in Sydney, Australia. Theme: 'Spaces, Constraints, Creativities: Organization and Disorganization', December 9-11.

'Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth' at the Swedish Business and Management Studies Conference 2016 in Uppsala, Sweden, October 20-21.

Guest editorship for a special issue in a scientific journal:

'Organizing Cultural Projects' in International Journal of Managing Projects in Business. Volume 8. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJMPB-07-2015-0054

Presentations of papers:
 
Organization Studies Workshop (2013), European Group of Organization Studies (EGOS) Colloquium (2013, 2014), Interdisciplinary Conference of the European Capitals of Culture (UNeECC) (2014, 2016), APROS (Asia Pacific Researchers in Organization Studies)/EGOS (European Group of Organization Studies) Conference (2015), International Research Network of Organizing by Projects (IRNOP) conference (2015), Nordic Academy of Management (NFF) Conference (2013) and the Swedish Business and Management Studies Conference (2016).

Participation in debates and panels outside the academic community:

In addition to participating in the above mentioned research conferences, the project participants have been involved in debates, panels and presentations within the interdisciplinary network 'Culture and Cities' at Umeå University coordinated by the Center for Regional Science (CERUM). The project leader has also been a member of the board for this network. These arrangements included interaction with actors outside the scientific community and involved participation from the Government, the Ministry of Culture, the Agency for Cultural Analysis, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, regional development agencies, municipalities, businesses, media and stakeholders in urban development in the broadest sense. Participation in these forums has also led to interviews as well as related media articles.

Publication strategy

The publication strategy has been characterized by a combination of production of books and scientific articles. A book creates space to develop more complex reasoning which represents the width of the theoretical approaches used in the Project, as well as the scope of the empirical data collection work could be given its rightful space. In this way, it feels satisfying that the summarizing results have been published in a book at a well-reputable international publishing house. Nevertheless, it is essential that more in-depth address the specific and emerging phenomenon in more focused articles and conference papers. To that extent, the parallel work on the book and the various articles enriched each other in a mutual interplay which will hopefully benefit further research efforts (see list of publications). Open access has been used when possible.

Summarizing book of the project in its entirety

The summarizing results have been published in the book 'Urban Strategies for Culture-Driven Growth. Co-Creating a European Capital of Culture' at Edward Elgar Publishing. The book compiles essentially all the empirical evidence gathered during the project implementation period embedded in a comprehensive theoretical framework, which in turn forms the basis for the analysis of the project's main results. The results are synthesized in a conceptual model that draws attention to the central components in city development processes of this nature, as well as more practical recommendations are mediated primarily directed to forthcoming Capitals of Culture.