Mega Event Cities Urban Legacies Of Global Sports Events

Mega-events represent an important moment in the life of a city, providing a useful lens through which we may analyse their cultural, social, political and economic development. In the wake of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) concerns about ’gigantism’ and wider public concerns about rising costs, it was imperative in the C21st to demonstrate the long term benefits that arose for the city and nations from hosting premier sporting events. ’London 2012’ was the first to integrate the concept of legacy from the moment a bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games was being considered. London proposed an ambitious programme of urban renewal for East London. Subsequent host city bids have adopted the ’legacy narrative’ and, as this book demonstrates, aligned this to major schemes of urban development and renewal. Bringing together scholars, practitioners and policy makers, this book focuses upon the legacies sought by cities that host major sports events. It analyses how governments, the IOC and others define and measure ’legacy’. It also focuses upon the challenges and opportunities facing future host cities of mega-events, looking at their aspirations and the intended impact upon their domestic and international development. It questions what the global shift in geographical location of mega-events means for sports development and the business of sport, what the attractions are for cities seeking to harness the hosting of a mega-event, and whether there may be longer term consequences for the bidding and hosting major sporting events in the wake of the widespread social unrest that accompanied the preparations in Brazil for hosting the FIFA World Cup (2014) and the summer Olympics (2016) and in Turkey, where there was significant opposition to bid for the 2020 summer Olympiad.

This book focuses upon the legacies sought by cities that host major sports events. It analyses how governments, the IOC and others define and measure 'legacy'. It also focuses upon the challenges and opportunities facing future host cities of mega-events and questions what the global shift in geographical location of mega-events means for sports development and the business of sport and what are the attractions for cities seeking to harness the hosting of a mega-event, and whether there may be longer term consequences for the bidding and hosting major sporting events.

Global sports events are rarely far from the public eye. Such mega-events are about much more than the sporting competitions themselves. They entail global exposure and intense struggles by different stakeholders. This is the first book to examine sports mega-events from a mobilities perspective. It analyses the ‘mobile construction’ of global sports mega-events and the role this plays in managing labour, imaginaries, policies and legacies. In particular, the book focuses on the tension between the various mobilities and immobilities that are implied in the process of constructing a mega-event. It seeks to uncover the ways in which an event is a series of fluid interactions that occur sequentially and simultaneously at multiple scales in diverse spheres of interaction. Contributions explore the dynamics through which mega-events occur, revealing the textures and nuance of the complex systems that sustain them, and the ways that events ramify throughout the international system.

This is a multi-disciplinary contribution to the burgeoning literature on and around mega-events in general and sports mega-events in particular. The volume is not specifically about mega-events or their management, but rather how such events act as a lens through which a number of important and critical questions about the decisions to host, the host nation, its society and the politics of culture, sport and leisure more broadly can be dealt with. In doing so this book seeks to build on, and out from initial work on (sports) mega events by acknowledging the major shift towards ‘emerging’ states awarded such events since 2006 and incorporating the latest advances in research that have taken place in recent years. For example, debates about what constitutes a ‘mega-event’, what is meant by a ‘legacy’, what is ‘soft power’ and so on are dealt with from a team of leading academics from a variety of academic disciplines. This book was previously published as a special issue of Leisure Studies.

As London sought to use the Olympics to achieve an ambitious programme of urban renewal in the relatively socially deprived East London it attracted global attention and sparked debate. This book provides an in-depth study of the transformation of East London as a result of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Government and event organisers use legacies of urban renewal to justify hosting the world’s leading sports mega-event, this book examines and evaluates those legacies. The London Olympics and Urban Development: the mega-event city is composed of new research, conducted by academics and policy makers. It combines case study analysis with conceptual insight into the role of a sports mega-events in transforming the city. It critically assesses the narrative of legacy as a framework for legitimizing urban changes and examines the use of this framework as a means of evaluating the outcomes achieved. This book is about that process of renewal, with a focus on the period following the 2012 Games and the diverse social, political and cultural implications of London’s use of the narrative of legacy.

The use of sporting and other mega-events to bring about transformation of socially deprived areas of major cities is becoming an increasingly important part of the raison d'être for hosting such events, especially given the immense costs involved and the current economic climate. The tax-paying public increasingly has to be persuaded of the benefits, beyond the event itself, to spend the nation’s resources in this way. This edited book, written by international experts, critically explores these multiple facets of the Mega Event legacy looking at the various economic, environmental and social impacts and benefits in multiple continents. It considers topics such as volunteering, participation, economics, sponsorship, ethics and technology in relation to legacy. This timely book provides a further understanding of the legacy discourse, as well as the potential pitfalls connected to legacy in relation to mega events. Filling a gap in the literature on legacy research, Legacies and Mega Events will be of interest to events, sports, tourism, urban development students, researchers and academics.

Since the turn of the twenty first century, there has been a trend for urban "mega events" to be awarded to cities and nations in the East and Global South. Such events have been viewed as economic stimulant as well as opportunities to promote national identity, gain greater international recognition and exercise a form of 'soft power.' However, there has also been on-going controversy about the value, impact and legacy of global mega events in these cities and nations. This book provides a critical examination of the ambition for spectacle that has emerged across the East and Global South. The chapters explore the theoretical and conceptual issues associated with mega-events and new forms of globalization, from the critical political economy of mega-events in a changing world order to the contested social and economic legacies of mega-events and the widespread opposition that increasingly accompanies these events. The book also explores questions of urban development and governance, the role of new communications technologies in global economic expansion, the high security State, and the growing global influence of international non-governmental organizations. This book offers a rich collection of original theoretical contributions and global case studies from leading international scholars from the social sciences and humanities. It offers a fresh and unique interdisciplinary perspective that synthesizes cutting edge research on mega-events and urban spectacles while simultaneously contributing to a broader understanding of the dynamics of global capitalism and international political power in the early twenty first century.

This volume offers a distinctive and timely comparative analysis of the sociological, economic, and political significance of bids for, and the hosting of, sports mega-events throughout the world. A collection by leading international scholars examining sports mega-events, such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. Analyses the sociological, economic, and political significance of bids for, and the hosting of, sports mega-events. Explores the costs and benefits incurred by host cities. Focuses on both advanced and developing cities throughout Europe, Asia, North America, Australasia, and South Africa.