Planning culture and time in a mega-event: Thessaloniki as the European City of Culture in 1997

This paper addresses the growing importance of mega-events in urban cultural development, focusing on the atypical example of the European Cities of Culture, in particular Thessaloniki in 1997. The launch of the event demonstrates the significance of the international role of cultural activities in urban and economic regeneration. Comparison of the evaluation of Thessaloniki before and after the event demonstrates a lack of strategic planning, particularly cultural and time planning, resulting in a variety of interconnected problems such as the construction of flagship projects, the lack of a city marketing perspective and the need for a tourism policy. © 2005 Taylor & Francis