Liverpool was very proud to be designated the European Capital of Culture in 2008. How is this reflected today?

As everyone knows, Liverpool is one of the famous cities for culture in Europe as well as the UK. Meeting the local people and talking about the history of Liverpool culture were unforgettable experiences. I’m going to talk about interesting things that we learned from local people.

For one thing, the local people we met knew already the fact that Liverpool used to be the European capital of culture. They felt proud of that, and it has helped to change Liverpool’s image. Due to that, the reputation of the city has been regenerated in terms of arts, and the atmosphere of the city has also become much livelier. Especially, music and sports are regarded as the most influential strengths. They have attracted many people’s attention around the world, and the city has attained the good honour in terms of tourism. And also, there are many benefits for local people as well as tourists. For instance, festivals, museums, theatres and local activities are more diversified rather than before.

However, there are two negative aspects behind their historic achievement. They succeeded in trading due to well-developed harbour such as the Albert dock, but they used to trade slaves as well as cotton as part of the transatlantic slave trade. It is one of the stains on their history. Secondly, the lack of residential areas for extended families and education facilities for young children makes local people move out of town. They recognise that problem, and have struggled to improve the situation.

As it is mentioned above, although Liverpool used to be the capital of culture in the past, they have still struggled to conserve and develop their own culture. It was easy to find their efforts and traces wherever we went. If they keep their passion for culture, their reputation could be better. The city is definitely multicultural and aspiring enough for everyone even though there are some realistic problems. If they cope with that, the city will be nicer to live in as well as enjoying arts.

-Mingi-