Special events in urban space: on the problem of ranking and classification

The multiplicity of concepts used in relation to ordinary and extraordinary events has complicated the work of researchers and practitioners due to the polysemy and ambiguity of interpretations, the diversity of approaches. This makes it difficult to implement it’s transformation functions. The article analyzes the factors influencing the determination of the properties of special events in order to establish categorical characteristics that allow to identify sociocultural special event among other public events and to diversify them. The author’s two factor classification makes it possible to define sociocultural special event based on the mutual influence of the level (severity) of information dominance of the event in public space and the level of individual significance of the event for a potential visitor. The dependence of these two factors determines the position of event in coordinate system. The features of applying the classification in practice are highlighted: the need to take into account the level of consideration (macro, micro or meso) and indicate the size of the audience, the social group to which informed persons belong. In conclusion, it is proposed to consider the prefix “special” as an indication that a mass event has a set of distinctive qualities, not as a separate type of event. The results open up opportunities for relative diversification of activities depending on the territorial and information level of their implementation and the target group of the activity, and aallow to reduce terminological uncertainty in thematic discussions on the subject under consideration.