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.