Internationalizing small-sized cities through mega-events: the case of Matera-Basilicata 2019 European Capital of Culture

The paper is part of an ongoing thesis on the city of Matera (Italy). The research questions the effects and challenges of a double international recognition on urban space production: the mega-event ‘European Capital of Culture’ and the UNESCO World Heritage status. Using Matera’s bid book to become the European Capital of Culture, the paper focuses on the vocabulary used by the experts in charge of the application and questions the city models underlying the cultural programme. Through the use of an entrepreneurial vocabulary, the stakeholders of the Matera–Basilicata 2019 Foundation propose to transform the classic modes of bureaucratic management and the way of conceiving urban design. In this perspective, the challenge is no longer to invest in infrastructural components or public facilities but to create a new attractive image of the city. In this context, the Foundation in charge of the organization of the event acts as a company to promote new narratives and to provide new services for the city. The label ‘European Capital of Culture’ is therefore used to promote the city through a new urban vision, which reinterprets the local and historical urban representations.