Marseille-Provence 2013 a larger, decades-long, multibillion-dollar development effort to revitalize the city. The official designation of European Capital of Culture was created in 1985 with the goal of building ties between citizens of the European Union by celebrating both the diversity of European culture and its common history and values. The event is also considered an opportunity for a city or region raise its international profile and to foster urban renewal through investment in culture and tourism. Thus far, more than 40 cities have received the European Capital of Culture designation. The city of Marseille launched its candidacy to host the European
American Capital of Culture American Capital of Culture The non-governmental organization American Capital of Culture Organization selects one city in the Americas annually to serve as the American Capital of Culture for a period of one year. The organization claims the initiative is based closely on the European Capital of Culture program; it enjoys the backing of the Organization of American States, but the OAS is not involved in the selection process. The American Capital of Culture initiative was born in 1997 and is aimed at all the countries of the Americas ("América" in Portuguese and in Spanish, the main language of most of