“Venice as a capital” is both a reality and an inspiration. It implies existing and evolving territorial, social and economic patterns and a fascinating as well as ambitious vision for the future that is not completely outlined yet. “Venice as a capital” is the attempt to overcome the strong resistance, tying the image of this lagoon city to its past, in order to create a new central role for it on an international level. There are many ways to achieve this important goal, but apparently Venice is willing to follow a way paved with great events, walking through the international limelight. It is according to this choice that Venice decided to participate to the Shanghai Expo 2010, the Milan Expo 2015, to apply for the title of European cultural capital 2019 and for the Olympics 2020.

Therefore “Venice as a capital” is a long term, far-reaching project created in order to face this international dimension through the involvement of the regional and urban territory’s full potential and resources. Often, rather than corresponding to the territories contiguity and geographical size, the urban ‘dimension’ of a metropolitan area is mainly characterized by the density of social and economic relations existing between its cities. This is particularly true if we are not referring to the hinterland of a big city but to a wide and multi-centric territorial entity, just like Venice. In the first case, a ‘dominant’ city determines the organization and functioning of its urban area, whereas in the second case, considering a multi-centre urban area, the hierarchy of cities and functions is not so clearly marked; this implies a more problematic interpretation and management of inner phenomena. In this last case, it’s even more complicated to define a urban area, to create policies to favor the integration of resources, economic and social bodies, thus developing an adequate planning and organization activity. Therefore, organizing an international event in Venice can also be a great opportunity to develop a comprehensive metropolitan project, both physically and functionally, through the participation of private and public bodies usually struggling to find shared goals. These remarks about the search for a new international dimension of Venice and the design and development of its metropolitan project are definitely some of the reasons that led to the creation of the Committee for Venice’s application for the Olympics 2020. This initiative was promoted by the mayors of three municipalities included in Venice city-Region (Venice, Padova and Treviso) and by the presidents of Veneto Region and Confindustria.

At the beginning of October, Venice’s application was put forward just after the proclamation of Rio de Janeiro as official host for the Olympic games 2016. This immediately provoked a reaction from Rome, which had assumed to be the only Italian city to apply for the Olympics 2020. By spring 2010, the heads of CONI will have to choose just one of the two Italian applicants. Yet, they have already proved skeptical about the participation of the lagoon city, objecting to Venice’s lack of sport infrastructures able to properly host the Olympic activities. Despite CONI’s initial reluctance, the Committee for Venice 2020, headed by Venice mayor Massimo Cacciari, is still determined to carry on Venice’s application.

Over the next few days, the Committee will present a Master Plan highlighting the location of sport plants and auxiliary facilities, and defining the position of the operational and organizational infrastructures. Even though the project details have not been announced yet, the involvement of Venetian cities, in terms of sport plants location and other connected services, is not hard to predict. The Olympics in Venice could greatly contribute to the transformation of the Tessera area; here the new stadium is about to be built, a structure that will include equipped green areas and other services. Great support would also be given to the restructuring of Porto Marghera where some new construction projects are now under evaluation: the Olympic village, the indoor sport arena and the Media Center, hosting Press and TV staff. Waiting for the public Master Plan presentation, the Committee has already created the www.venezia2020.it website containing some general information on Venice’s application and on the organizational bodies promoting its development.