Globalization, cities and the Summer Olympics

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the increasing globalization of the Summer Olympics and the effect on host cities. The impact of the Games on city structure, the competition to host the Games, the selling of the Games to urban communities and the opportunities, the dangers of the city as a focus of global media attention and the role of the Games in the global city imaginary are critically discussed.

Unequal cities of spectacle and mega-events in China

“…Mega-events such as the Olympic Games would mesh all these into an ensemble, producing spectacular images as well as spectacular urban spaces to meet the hosting requirements of such events and maximise host cities' potential (and largely economic) gains. Under these circumstances, mega-events as urban spectacles have gained an increasing degree of popularity among urban elites as a means of staging cities in the world (Short, 2008).…”

“…In line with the post-Fordist transition of major Western economies and the concentration of megaevents in post-industrial cities, mega-events have been regarded as playing an instrumental role of spurring the consumption-based economic development ). This involved the provision of sporting complexes, convention centres, entertainment facilities and supporting infrastructure, while it was hoped that the expected international recognition of host cities would also raise their global profile in the quest for mobile capital (Short, 2008). Central government grants were also frequently regarded as being a major motif behind mega-event promotion by cities that experienced fiscal problems Cochrane et al, 1996).…”

Introduction: Re-writing London and the Olympic City: Critical implications of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’

“…Such transformations are typically located in low-income and/or post-industrial areas of cities and have resulted in an estimated 2 million people being displaced by the Olympics between 1988(COHRE, 2007. Through marshalling political, media and private sector interests, the construction of hegemonic and dramaturgical urban narratives remaking and representing the city around the Olympics reproduce narratives of growth, reinforce 'global city' imagery and suppress opposition to the project (Short, 2008;Poynter, 2008;Broudehoux, 2007). The architectural legacy is often one of under-used civic and sporting infrastructure peppered with iconic buildings, commissioned from a select pool of transnational star architects reproducing a globalised language of elite architectural imagery (Sklair, 2006).…”

“…Much work has been done to unpick how the biennial urbanisation of the Olympics has evolved, framing our critical understanding of a costly, drastic and farreaching intervention into urban fabric and governance. Recent critical perspectives on the Olympics and cities, last picked up in City in issue 12.3, have brought together regime theory and growth engines, globalization, entrepreneurial cities, and urban spectacles (Surborg, Van Wynsberghe and Wyly, 2008;Short 2008;see also Poynter 2008;Broudehoux, 2007). Here it is argued, convincingly, that city elites compete with each other for the right to host the Games to secure the opportunities to construct and promote an urban image with real political and economic value onto a global stage.…”

Mega Sporting Events, Real Estate, and Urban Social Economics The Case of Brazil 2014/2016

“…Many academic studies covering mega sporting events ask why such events gain so much importance in the agendas of many governments (Broudehoux, (Short, 2008;Tomlinson, 2005). Second, hosting mega events can be considered a tool for urban development and entrepreneurialism (Cochrane et al, 1996;Essex and Chalkley, 2004;Gold and Gold, 2008).…”