The Final Selection Report

Summary: 
The panel found both bids were interesting, but they also found that the two cities had chosen very different approach. Umeå had a very clear ambition to make the city and the North of Sweden more visible in Europe. Umeå had also shown good ambition for using culture as a major element in regional development. Lund's vision was to connect art and science and create closer synergies between university and the society.

The project of Umeå was judged to respond best to the objectives of the event based on the criteria "the European dimension" and "cities and citizens". It was also the project that seemed to the panel to present strong political engagement on part of the mayor of the city (Marie-Louise Rönnmark) and all local authorities involved regardless of political allegiance, solid governance with all management structures related to each other, a high quality programme in comparison with the requirements for a European Capital of culture and solid financial support from local authorities.

The panel was sympathetic to its underlying deeply felt urge to make Umeå and the Northern part of Sweden more connected with and known by other parts of Europe. It was the panel's unanimous recommendation that Umeå should be designated as European Capital of Culture 2014.