What was participatory culture’s role in advancing critical PR ideals through community placemaking for UK City of Culture 2021 (UKCoC) bids? To answer this question, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted across five UKCoC contender locations, paying particular attention to presentation of professional self. Reported events were theorised using the academic concepts of critical PR and participatory culture. It is argued that two elements to proceedings created conditions for critical PR ideals to be advanced at intervals. The first was a low barrier to inclusion and artistic expression – although this had the opposite effect for some arts people. The second was, due to the low barrier, the possibility for the emergence of autonomous space for participants, facilitated by the organisational, cultural curator, PR role. The low barrier is key to the definition of participatory culture. However, its relevance to critical PR has been un-theorised until now, despite growing interest in the intersection between the disciplines of participatory culture and critical PR. This is the first such work to examine UKCoC using critical PR and participatory culture theories. The community placemaking activities under scrutiny are presented as embodiments, in parts, of critical PR ideals, made possible by participatory culture. In summary, it is demonstrated that the PR role provided the potential for residents to be empowered, and to gain an enhanced love of place or topophilia. This was a bottom-up and anti-neoliberal effect of the top-down and time-limited undertaking of bidding for UKCoC status, highlighting the value of participatory culture principles to critical PR.

参与式文化在通过社区场所营造来推进 2021 年英国文化城 (UKCoC) 申办的关键公关理念方面发挥了什么作用？为了回答这个问题，我们在 UKCoC 的五个竞争地点进行了 20 次半结构化访谈，特别关注专业自我的展示。使用批判性公关和参与文化的学术概念对所报道的事件进行理论化。有人认为，诉讼程序的两个要素为关键的公关理想的不断推进创造了条件。首先是包容性和艺术表达的门槛较低——尽管这对一些艺术人士产生了相反的效果。第二个是，由于门槛较低，在组织、文化策展人和公关角色的推动下，参与者有可能出现自主空间。低门槛是参与文化定义的关键。然而，尽管人们对参与性文化和批判性公关学科之间的交叉越来越感兴趣，但迄今为止，它与批判性公关的相关性尚未被理论化。这是第一个使用批判性公关和参与文化理论来研究 UKCoC 的此类著作。受到审查的社区场所营造活动在某种程度上被视为关键公关理想的体现，而参与性文化使之成为可能。总之，事实证明，公关角色有可能赋予居民权力，增强对地方的热爱或对地缘的热爱。这是自上而下和有时限的竞标 UKCoC 地位的自下而上和反新自由主义的影响，凸显了参与性文化原则对关键公关的价值。