The role of festivals in the development of contemporary urban space—A model

Abstract

This chapter is the last factual chapter in this book, which consists of two main parts. The first one presents the most important findings from the analysis of festivals, their development and influence on cities discussed in the book. The second part presents a model illustrating the development of festivals and their role in the urban space. The first section of this chapter refers to the earlier parts of the publication. It includes the most important conclusions from the work, also as regards its objectives formulated in the Introduction. In this way, the first part consolidates the findings regarding the concept and history of festival events. The main factors of festivals development are considered here. These are the factors which led to the festival boom in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This part also refers to the main research approaches and methods used in festival studies. The conclusions from the chapter concerning urban space festivalisation, including those concerning the impacts of events on the multifaceted urban space, are also presented. The reader would also find references to the case study of Łódź—a Polish post-socialist and post-industrial city here. In the second part of this chapter, there is a model of the development of festivals and their influence on urban space presented. It shows both the main festival development factors in recent decades and their influence on space. The model is universal enough to be used for an analysis of other cities of different sizes and geographical locations.