Research Information System
PASOS. REVISTA DE TURISMO Y PATRIMONIO CULTURAL, vol.8, no.3, pp.51-66, 2010 (ESCI)
Culture-led regeneration is now a rising feature of cities as they seek to establish themselves
as competitive cities of culture. The rise of culture impacts considerably upon the quality of life in cities.
The competition takes two major strategies: mega projects and mega-events. While the main cities of the
economically advanced nations go through a wide range of experiences, their successes and failures
should be taken into consideration by those other cities that wish to imitate the ones leading in the ranking. Cities of the developing world, however, may meet completely different problems even during the
stage of planning. This paper reviews such a case, namely Izmir, by way of stating the city’s intentions
to benefit from culture-driven strategies as seen through its indicators, and showing the evidence that
cause it to fail in reaching its goals. The final statement shall emphasize the importance of cultural policies to be formulated on a wider perspective.