Shock to the system: Examining legacy effects of Plovdiv 2019 on sustainable development, urban metabolism, and resilience

Our research seeks to enrich the broader discourse on urban development strategies in Europe and bring Western and Eastern European countries closer together, further uniting our societies and strengthening urban resilience. What this work aims to achieve is to deepen our understanding of socioeconomic shocks affecting the urban development trajectories in the SEE region. To do so we examine the 2019 ECOC initiative in Plovdiv comparing it to a small-scale socioeconomic shock that challenges the city’s urban resilience. Our focus is on exploring the legacy effect of the ECOC initiative on Plovdiv’s current urban development. To address the research question, we drew insights from many academic works, and outlined five key themes related to our study: ownership, governance, cultural heritage, participation, and local identity. Our research employs a qualitative research approach. We conducted 12 online in-depth semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders. What all our conclusions highlight is the urgent need to rethink the notions of ownership, governance, participation, and local identity when it comes to cultural and natural heritage, hence supporting policymakers and citizens alike in seeking novel models for cooperation based on participatory democracy and adaptive reuse principles.