A critical debate of the cultural and social effects of Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture

ABSTRACT

The paper considers the hosting of the European Capital of Culture in Malta in 2018 in the light of the cultural and social effects on Malta’s capital city, Valletta. Governance and impacts on Malta’s tourism are also debated. The cultural sector was positively impacted with a varied and innovative programme. The expectations for Valletta 2018 was that the cultural scene in Malta would be taken to a much higher level. This did not happen largely because politicisation undermined the overall governance of the event. In the last two decades, ECoC was one of many projects and initiatives that brought about a process of Valletta’s regeneration. There are concerns, however, that excessive commercialisation has reduced liveability.

KEYWORDS:

• European Capitals of Culture
• Valletta
• culture
• social impacts
• impact on tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Dr. John Ebejer is Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta. He authored several journal articles and book chapters mostly on the subjects of tourism, historic areas and urban regeneration. Before dedicating himself full-time to academia, he worked for many years as an urban planner and tourism consultant. Dr. Ebejer was educated at the University of Malta, University of Sheffield and the University of Westminster from where he holds a PhD in tourism.

Dr. Karsten Xuereb researches and teaches cultural policy and relations in Europe and the Mediterranean. He is a member of the scientific committees of Brokering Intercultural Exchange and The Phoenicians’ Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, the latter on behalf of the Maltese cultural association Inizjamed.

Dr. Marie Avellino is the Director of the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture at the University of Malta. Her research interests include social anthropology, cultural heritage, tourism for seniors, cultural identities and intercultural competencies. She has extensive experience of EU-funded projects.

Notes

1 The first author has been involved professionally with Valletta for over two decades on urban planning and tourism development. More recently he was an active member of Valletta Alive Foundation, an NGO that lobbied in favour of Valletta. As an activist, he followed closely the ECoC process from before the bidding stage up to now. He also attended several V18 seminars and had discussions with V18 officials at various stages.

2 The second author led preparations for the European Capital of Culture in Malta between 2011 and 2017 in his role first as project coordinator and later as executive director of the foundation purposely set up by national government.

3 The bid-book is the application upon which Valletta was selected ECoC. It is a commitment of what was to be done and achieved during the ECoC year.