What does ‘City of Culture’ actually mean?

The accolade was modelled on the European Capital of Culture competition, an honour which has previously been bestowed on cities including Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm and Glasgow. As well as a nice title, being selected as a UK City of Culture offers a significant lift to local economies, tourism and access to the arts.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has already said it will give Coventry £3m for special projects, with the government also expected to chip in. It’s not yet known exactly how much money ‘Cov’ will get from the government ahead of its 2021 celebrations, but Hull received £15m in government funding for being City of Culture 2018 – plus £3m from Arts Council England and £3m from HLF.

Being City of Culture also resulted in significant non-government investment for Hull and Derry-Londonderry, the first UK City of Culture (which took the title in 2013). Derry has said that the accolade boosted its local economy by £47m, while The Guardian reports that Hull has had £1bn of investment since it was announced as the 2017 winner.

More broadly, the honour offers the chance to shine a spotlight on places that might not usually be considered artistic hotspots, bringing a sense of vibrancy, optimism and local pride – plus new visitors – to the UK’s smaller cities. In the first three months of Hull being City of Culture 2018, for example, nine out of 10 residents took part in a cultural activity, while hotel occupancy jumped by 14%.

This will be the UK’s next City of Culture