From creative city to generative governance of the cultural policy system? The case of Barcelona's candidature as UNESCO City of Literature

•Creative city model has showed its dilemmas and limits: nowadays, a more systematic approach to cultural policy is under development by local governments.•Barcelona's local authorities and cultural agents are attempting to overcome the pitfalls of his model of cultural policy through a more cultural generative model.•The case of Barcelona's candidature as UNESCO City of Literature it's an attempt to capitalize on the local literary heritage and creation and as a sign of identity.•This project shows an emerging case of this new cultural policy paradigm which combines a great complexity of objectives towards cultural value.

Since the 1980s, cultural policies have been increasingly oriented to promoting cities. However, under the paradigm of the creative city, this approach had presented several dilemmas and contradictions. Since then, there have been various attempts to tackle such issues through a more systematic approach to cultural policy - what we identify as cultural governance oriented to cultural generation. Barcelona is a paradigmatic case illustrating this trend. The city's candidature as UNESCO City of Literature in 2015 reveals an attempt to combine international promotion, development of local cultural industries, citizen cultural engagement. Moreover, this project emerges as an attempt to capitalize on the local literary heritage and on the image of local literature as a sign of identity. Finally, we highlight some limits and contradictions arising from the approach adopted by Barcelona.