Thesis Abstract

This thesis examines the impacts of unsuccessful bids for the United Kingdom City of Culture (UKCC) designation, with a focus on understanding how the bidding process itself can be a catalyst for positive outcomes in culture-led regeneration—even when a city fails to secure the title. While substantial scholarly attention has been paid to the benefits for winning cities, this study addresses a critical gap in research by investigating the legacy value of a failed bid.

This research adopts a single-case study of Paisley, Scotland, the first non-city to be shortlisted for the UKCC. Through an interpretivist lens and qualitative methodology, the research explores the processes, practices, and relationships cultivated during Paisley’s UKCC 2021 bid and how these contributed to sustained regeneration efforts despite the unsuccessful outcome. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the bid and analysis of Renfrewshire Council archival documents and marketing materials specially related to the bidding process.

Findings suggest that while many cities abandon plans following a failed bid, others—like Paisley—leverage the momentum generated with stakeholder engagement, funding, cultural leadership, and cultural policy reforms initiated during the bidding phase to continue regeneration efforts. The study demonstrates that such bids can serve as transitional moments of institutional and community creativity, leading to new forms of cultural policy, governance, and place-making that persist beyond the bid’s formal conclusion.

By discussing failure as a form of learning and transformation, this thesis contributes to emerging discourses that the process of mega-event bidding is an instrument of local development and cultural policy. It offers a new framework for understanding the bid process as a cultural artefact and legacy mechanism, challenging the prevailing focus on victory as the sole measure of success.