Socio-Cultural Impacts of Major Event: Evidence From the 2008 European Capital of Culture, Liverpool

Abstract

Events are emerging worldwide and are seen to have significant economic and socio-cultural impacts on the destination and host society. However, there are only handful studies focusing on the socio-cultural impacts of events. This study fills in this gap by focusing on the socio-cultural impacts of the 2008 European Capital of Culture, Liverpool on the socially marginalised communities. The research is based on analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected from four distinct neighbourhoods, which help to give a comparison of how major event influence a wide cross-section of the population. Totally 2,252 residents were surveyed over 3 years in order to track the changes of performance, and eight community workshops were conducted. The research findings point to three dimensions of socio-cultural impacts of the event which could contribute to the enhancement of quality of life, including participation and interest in cultural activities, accessibility and inclusion effect of cultural event, and social outcomes in terms of the enhancement of sense of place and local identity.