Poster #131 - What Makes a Cultural City?: The Local Politics of Cultural City Designation and Local Resource Inequality

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

The concept of a cultural city originates from the European City of Culture, an initiative launched by the European Union to strengthen local cultural identity and promote regional cultural tourism. Inspired by this model, the Cultural City program in the Republic of Korea, established under the Local Cultural Promotion Act, aims to enhance cultural creativity and sustainable urban development by leveraging region-specific cultural assets. Despite the normative emphasis on local resources as a foundation for designation, it remains unclear what specific types of resources – fiscal, cultural, spatial, or symbolic – influence the selection of Cultural Cities. As the cultural city designation increasingly shapes the regional cultural policy landscape in Korea, identifying the underlying logic of the program has become an essential task in the era of local autonomy. This study addresses the following research questions. What types of local resources most strongly predict designation as a Cultural City in Korea? Do resource-based factors, rather than political or demographic conditions, determine which cities are selected? Using a panel dataset of 228 local governments in Korea from 2019 to 2024, this study employs a panel logit regression to evaluate the effects of various resource-based variables, including fiscal autonomy, cultural budget allocations, the number of certified artists, public employees in the cultural sector, the existence of national assets, and city branding indicators. Political and demographic variables are added as controls to isolate the impact of these resources. Designation data by year is compiled from official government reports and webpages. Preliminary results suggest that fiscal and symbolic assets significantly increase the likelihood of designation, while political interventions also exert substantial influence. These findings indicate that although the designation process is formally governed by committee review, underlying structural conditions play a critical role in shaping outcomes. By clarifying the actual selection logic behind Korea’s Cultural City program, this study contributes to a more grounded understanding of how local governments can strategically build capacity for cultural policy recognition. It also highlights how resource-based designation frameworks may reinforce or alleviate regional cultural disparities, offering broader implications for equity in cultural policy.

Author

• Joonha Suh, Yonsei University
  Presenting Author