The ‘European Capital of Culture’ project for 2033
In an era characterised by growing tensions and fractures in the global social and economic fabric, the European Union’s ‘European Capitals of Culture’ initiative, just over forty years after its launch in 1985, continues to pursue the aim of bringing the peoples of Europe closer together through culture.
The ‘European City of Culture’ programme, renamed the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) in 1999, is now one of the EU’s longest-running cultural policies. Initially, during the year in which the title was celebrated, the initiative focused on local art forms and festivals, but as early as the 1990s – with Glasgow (ECoC 1990) and later with Liverpool (ECoC 2008), the programme took on an innovative role, helping to set in motion genuine urban regeneration. The average operating budget allocated by the winning cities has risen from around 25 million euros to nearly 51 million (Figure 1), a sign of its growing economic significance, which has transformed a symbolic initiative into a driver of development.
The scientific literature on the subject confirms that there are significant, measurable effects, such as an average 8 per cent increase in overnight stays in the year the title is awarded and a 4.5 per cent rise in GDP in the winning cities compared with non-winning cities in the same country. Alongside these results are social and cultural benefits that are more difficult to quantify but equally significant, linked to the strengthening of local identity, an improvement in residents’ quality of life, and greater access to and participation in culture (Giovannelli et al. 2026).
Italia played a leading role in the ECoC programme in 1986 with Florence, in 2000 with Bologna and in 2004 with Genoa. Then, following the introduction of the first proper legislation – Decision No 1622/2006/EC – it was Matera’s turn in 2019. The experience of the city of the Sassi has shown that being designated an ECoC has been a real economic catalyst. Between 2014 – the year of the designation – and 2019 – the year it held the title – tourist numbers in the city rose from 244,847 to 730,434 (+198.3 per cent), with international arrivals more than doubling (+134.7 per cent) (Padula, 2020). In 2019 alone, tourist spending reached 121.3 million euros, generating an impact on the city’s GDP of 224.3 million euros: approximately 15 per cent of the municipal GDP. It was not only the tourism sector that benefited: an analysis carried out on the supply chain of the Matera-Basilicata in 2019 – established to manage the ECoC event – revealed a clear spill-over effect on the business community in Basilicata, which benefited from 59 per cent of the binding expenditure commitments, accounting for 44 per cent of the total budget. The positive impact of the event also extended to the birth rate of cultural and creative enterprises, which in Matera, between 2015 and 2019, reached 8.1 per cent compared with the national average of 4.9 per cent, whilst youth-led enterprises grew by 2.89 per cent, in sharp contrast to the figures recorded in Southern Italy (-5.9 per cent) and across Italia (-7.69 per cent). Over the same period, employment in the province of Matera rose by 10 per cent, compared with the national average of 4 per cent (Matera Foundation, 2019).
The benefits are not limited to these figures alone; Matera continues to benefit from the legacy left by its European experience. The Matera-Basilicata 2019 Foundation continues to this day to promote and coordinate cultural initiatives. This year, Matera has returned to the international spotlight as the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue, alongside Tétouan (Morocco), with a programme that strengthens the cultural and historical ties of the Euro-Mediterranean region, focusing on creative innovation and the active participation of local communities.
