Culture and the city: rebranding "Tough Cities" through arts and culture - the case of Matera 2019

This chapter focuses on the case of Matera, one of the less developed cities in the South of Italy, known as the “shame of Italy” for many years, which has recently been selected by the Council of European Ministers to be the European Capital of Culture in 2019. Matera 2019 has been chosen to illustrate how arts and culture can be particularly critical drivers of rebranding and repositioning of “tough” cities. The chapter emphasizes how the contribution of the city private and public stakeholders has played a crucial role in the rebranding process. Through in-depth interviews with two of main stakeholders involved in the development of the Matera 2019 concept (i.e., the Director of the Matera 2019 Committee, Paolo Verri, and the Mayor of the city, Raffaello De Ruggieri), this chapter will provide practical insights for arts and culture-based rebranding aimed at repositioning a place that has a reputation of “tough” city.