As Aberdeen considers a bid to become the UK’s first City of Culture in 2013, Morag Lindsay visits Liverpool to ask what lessons can be learned from the city that made the rest of Europe sit up and take notice in 2008
A growth culture
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It is just weeks after Aberdeen entered the race to be named UK City of Culture in 2013 and already dark mutterings are being heard about the cost.
The decision to move forward with a bid for the title – created as a postscript to Liverpool’s reign as European Capital of Culture in 2008 – was only narrowly approved last month, on the very day the city council announced plans for a further 600 job losses and multimillion-pound spending cuts.
Critics say the price of putting together a bid – never mind the investment in cultural attractions if Aberdeen triumphs over the 29 other contenders – cannot be justified by a local authority which has already had to close day centres and sports venues, pare back public services and shed jobs.
But, for civic leaders in Liverpool this week, the question their counterparts in Aberdeen should be asking was not “can we afford this?”, but “can we afford to let this opportunity pass us by?”
Warren Bradley, Liberal Democrat leader of Liverpool City Council and vice-chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company – the partnership set up to steer the 2008 programme – looks across the skyline of his home city and sees a vibrant economy, confident, optimistic citizens and a cultural life that extends far beyond the Beatles and football.
Much of this growth sprang from being European Capital of Culture, he says, and Aberdeen could be in line for similar rewards if it is bold enough to grab the UK title in four years.
“Never underestimate the power of culture to change lives,” said Mr Bradley, a firefighter representing the Toxteth area, who is relishing seeing his city make headlines for all the right reasons.
“Without doubt 2008 made everyone here feel more proud of their surroundings, and created a spirit of confidence and optimism that has made people see Liverpool as a city they can do business in.”
Like Aberdeen, value for money was, and continues to be, an issue for Liverpool, and the Culture Company was dogged by a series of resignations and expensive pay-offs to executives in the five years leading up to 2008 – controversies which still rankle with some.
As the party was getting under way, the Audit Commission, the independent watchdog responsible for monitoring public spending, branded Liverpool the worst-performing council in the country.
Failings included a £20million hole in the budget for the celebrations – part of an overall shortfall of £62million, which has resulted in an unpopular package of cost-saving measures, very like those being inflicted on Aberdeen.
Despite strong opposition, Liverpool City Council pressed ahead with a multimillion-pound investment package, agreeing to underwrite the cultural programme to the tune of £110million.
The final bill for the festivities came in at £94million, with about £12million coming in sponsorship from private sector partners.
The venture still has its critics, who say the money would have been better spent on improving council services. But supporters insist the long-term effects of being Capital of Culture will benefit the city for years to come.
Studies suggest events in 2008 generated £800million in economic activity and an additional £200million in worldwide exposure from hosting high-profile events like the MTV Music Awards, the Tall Ships Race and the World Firefighter Games.
Economists say wealth generation is now rising at levels higher than the national and north-west England averages, with some claiming this has helped cushion Liverpool from the impact of the economic downturn.
The year of culture also set a deadline for a programme of unprecedented regeneration that has seen £4billion invested in the physical transformation of the city through more than 300 major developments since 2000.
Certainly no one seemed to have told the crowds streaming through Liverpool One last week that the country was in the grip of the worst recession in several generations.
The £1billion shopping and leisure centre linking the Albert Dock to the city centre and the biggest regeneration project of its kind in Europe has taken Liverpool from 15th to fifth in the table of UK retail destinations, bringing a 33% increase in shoppers with £2billion spending power in 2008 alone.
Elsewhere the new Echo Arena and BT convention centre has given the city a world-class venue for conferences and exhibitions, with bookings right through to 2014 on top of a £200million boost for Liverpool’s economy in its first year.
The new cruise liner terminal at the Pier Head, the extension of the Leeds and Liverpool canal and construction work on the new museum of Liverpool are breathing new life into the waterfront, and other landmarks, such as St George’s Hall, the Bluecoat and the World Museum Liverpool, have all undergone extensive renovation.
A lot of these things would have happened anyway, says Pam Wilshire, acting head of tourism at the local economic development agency, the Mersey Partnership. But what the year of culture did was galvanise developers and funders so that many hotels, office blocks, shops and visitor attractions were completed much sooner than they would have been.
“There was a real sense of “let’s do this for 2008’,” she said.
“Of course it didn’t all come together in time, but it gave people a target to aim towards and if people see ongoing investment, they’ll come back.” For the woman charged with maximising tourism to Liverpool, being named European Capital of Culture was a gift.
One in four visitors to Liverpool in 2008 were new to the city.
Hotel occupancy rates averaged 76% during the year – well above national levels – and hit a record 81% in October.
On the weekend the Tall Ships Race, Open Golf Championships and World Firefighter Games coincided there wasn’t a hotel room to be had within a 50-mile radius of the city.
And bookings have held up well this year, especially taking into account the 1,500 new rooms that opened in 2008.
Ms Wilshire hopes the success of events like the Gustav Klimt exhibition, which attracted 250,000 people to Tate Modern at Albert Dock, will help entice so-called “cultural tourists” to come back and spend their disposable income in one of Liverpool’s boutique hotels, rather than visiting the likes of Rome and Paris – a proposition that would have been laughable before 2008.
In Aberdeen, Martin Greig, Liberal Democrat councillor for Hazlehead and vice-chairman of the education, culture and sport committee, which narrowly approved the bid last month, is impressed with all that Liverpool achieved.
He acknowledges difficult decisions may have to be made about funding if Aberdeen is to secure the City of Culture prize, but urges doubters to consider the bigger picture.
“It’s a huge investment which would have to be made and Aberdeen’s budgetary pressures and financial difficulties are well documented,” he said.
“Aberdeen is the lowest-funded council in Scotland, but that doesn’t mean we should not be investing in key areas – such as cultural tourism – which can help to bring in income for ourselves.”
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