Aberdeen, city of culture? How best-laid plans "gang aft a-gley".

Charles, Sally; Nicoll, Hilary

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of the Creative City in the context of Aberdeen, Scotland's third-largest city. The common perception of Aberdeen is likely to revolve around its status, for the last 50 years, as Europe’s Oil and Gas Capital. However, for more than a decade Aberdeen's city planners have sought to incorporate creativity and culture in their placemaking. The most visible expression of this was the unsuccessful 2013 bid to become the UK City of Culture 2017 (CoC), which was referred to as a "reality check" by Marie Boulton (BBC), the councillor charged with the culture portfolio. This article reviews and appraises subsequent policies and actions. It looks at Aberdeen's history and its current Cultural Strategy and how events have supported or inhibited the reimagining of Aberdeen as a Creative and Cultural City.

Citation

CHARLES, S. and NICOLL, H. 2022. Aberdeen, city of culture? How best-laid plans "gang aft a-gley". M/C journal [online], 25(3): cities, article 2903. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2903

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 10, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jun 27, 2022
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 22, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 16, 2022
• Journal: M/C Journal
• Print ISSN: 1441-2616
• Publisher: M/C Publication
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2903
• Keywords: Creative cities; Culture; Aberdeen
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1716795
• Publisher URL: https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/2903