LT5090 - Cities, Tourism and Eventfulness (2026/27)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2026/27 | |||||||||||||||
| Module title | Cities, Tourism and Eventfulness | |||||||||||||||
| Module level | Intermediate (05) | |||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | |||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | |||||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2026/27(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
‘Cities, Tourism and Eventfulness is designed to equip students with an understanding of the significance of events for the management of cities, and of cities for the management of events. The rise of the ‘eventful’ city in recent years demonstrates how cities have been using events strategically to tackle a range of post-industrial urban challenges – to boost the urban economy, as part of their regeneration strategies, to attract visitors and tourists, to rebrand the city, and to make it an attractive proposition for investment.
In the words of many boosterist slogans ‘a place to live, work, study and visit’. The events in question can be cultural events or business events. They can be recurring events, such as annual festivals, or one-off events that require competitive bidding (such as the Olympics or European Capital of Culture) and which may involve considerable investment in infrastructure. Such event-led regeneration and the associated legacy planning is typical of mega-events, but this approach has spread to the local level as the case of the London Borough of Culture programme, where London Boroughs compete for GLA funding to stage a year-long festival. To be successful in this, cities need to nurture their creative sectors and work in partnership with events organisations and cultural organisations.
Cities, Tourism and Eventfulness explores the conceptual basis for eventfulness, the ‘festivalisation’ of cities at different temporal and spatial scales and the implications of events and tourism for urban development, revitalization and sense of place, with particular reference to urban spaces and ‘quarters’ that are developed as a focus for events and tourism.
This module provides an understanding of the key role that events and event tourism play in the cultural and creative industries of cities and how they are used in eventful strategies to address key urban challenges, which can be economic, social, cultural, planning, or environmental. The result is an array of events used to regenerate cities, animate public spaces, and enrich the lives of residents and visitors.
This module aims to:
1. Equip students with an understanding of the current debates and explanations of reasons cities aspire to become eventful.
2. Increase awareness of how cultural events and cultural organisations can be used instrumentally to address urban problems
3. Examine critically the notions of urban entrepreneurialism, creativity, place-making, festivalisation, event-led regeneration, and legacy
4. Increase awareness of the positive and negative impacts of using events, creativity, and tourism in the revitalization of urban spaces and ‘quarters’
5. Develop research and analysis skills in developing an original case study of an eventful city.
Prior learning requirements
No prerequisites. Available for Study Abroad? YES
Syllabus
• Definitions of eventfulness, creativity, and events tourism LO1
• The key institutions and agencies responsible for managing eventful cities LO1
• Urban events strategies LO2
• Events tourism management and events as destinations LO2
• Culture-based and event-led regeneration LO2
• Managing cultural hubs, quarters and clusters LO2
• Place-making and scale - from mega-events to street festivals LO2
• Festivals and events programming LO2
• The positive and negative impacts and legacy of events on the city and its residents LO3
• City marketing and branding – soft power and cultural diplomacy LO3
• Visit to a regeneration area in London LO3
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
This module comprises weekly lectures followed by seminar sessions to develop, explore, and apply the ideas developed in the lectures.
Group and individual tasks in class will allow students to work with the key concepts developed in the module. The seminars will also be used to support students in the development of their assignment task (the eventful city case study).
A group visit to an area of event-led regeneration in London will give a practical demonstration of event strategies at work, legacy planning and implementation, and impact evaluation. This visit is designed to develop skills required for the development of the assignment case study – identifying the components of eventfulness, scrutinising the impact of event-led regeneration, and discussing the intended and unintended consequences of the strategy adopted.
The module also makes use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in order to post material from the lectures and supply additional teaching resources.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the notion of eventfulness and why cities aspire to become eventful (LO1)
2. Apply the concepts and theories underpinning eventfulness to a specific case study and appreciate the application of eventfulness at different urban scales from the large metropolis to the local area (LO2)
3. Recognise the positive and negative impacts of using events, creativity, and tourism on cities and local areas and their residents (LO3)