Mega-events in the context of capitalist modernity: the case of 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual account of the development of Russian urban space by analyzing the planning and execution of international mega-events. As place-rivalry among cities and countries under neoliberal capitalism becomes more pronounced, they pursue tighter incorporation into international markets via national developmental models. By reviewing links between modernity, capitalism, and spatiality outlined by scholars in recent decades, the author investigates how mega-events facilitate the accumulation of capital and how this is used in urban policies. With the help of capitalist boosterism rhetoric, during the 2014 Winter Olympics the Russian central, regional, and urban governments developed and exploited both the populist potential and the rent-seeking opportunities that mega-events possess. With the Winter Games in Sochi now behind, the author outlines a number of key issues that have shaped the urban development of the country and will leave a lasting legacy for a future generation to deal with. The author also summarizes larger lessons learned over the implementations of mega-events in the country.

From a sports mega-event to a regional mega-project: the Sochi winter Olympics and the return of geography in state development priorities

“…The combination of these policies with urban entrepreneurism activities emanating from Russia'sregional administrations too, seeking to promote their regional capital cities, has elevated the importance of urban regeneration and urbanism in Russia more generally (Allan and Khokhlov 2011). Preparing for the Sochi Winter Olympics certainly played a key part in this elevation (Trubina 2014), along with other government-led initiatives, such as the expansion of the administrative territory of Moscow in 2012 (Argenbright 2011), as well as the external impulses coming with the grand urbanism projects in Russia and other post-Soviet capital cities (Salukvadze and Golubchikov 2016). The territorialisation of federal development priorities was further accelerated, only if with a more explicit equalisation focus, with Vladimir Putin's returning into the seat of the Russian President in 2012.…”

“…Trubina (2014) focusing on the interplay of mega-events and their spatialities sees Sochi as an event through which Russian urban transformations become internationally connected and which as such will already have a lasting legacy. However, in line with the tendencies of post-socialist studies to see urban change as a projection of social change rather than a dimension of social change (Golubchikov 2016b), Trubina only treats Sochi as 'the most visible expression of the spatial dynamics of Russia' (p. 623), not as a vehicle of transformative changes.…”

After Sochi 2014: costs and impacts of Russia’s Olympic Games

“…Exacerbated through non-transparency and weak state institutions, the Sochi Olympics contributed to maintaining the neopatrimonial political system in Russia, enriching a select few through individual favors in exchange for political loyalty. As such, the Sochi Games played an important role for the distribution of resources in Russia's political economy Trubina 2015b; see also Dawisha 2014). …”

“…Strengthening the role of the private sector in the economy is one of the central pillars of the modernization agenda in Russia (Wilson Rowe 2014;Yakovlev 2014) and links up with the adoption of a neoliberal rhetoric in Russian urban politics that stresses growth, investment, and international competitiveness (Golubchikov 2010;Trubina 2015b). Sochi was meant to demonstrate modernization in action.…”

“…The Russian Government saw the Winter Olympics as a lever to bring the accommodation and infrastructure standard up to par with the competitors abroad, particularly in Europe. So much so that the new mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana was built to even resemble, in somewhat eclectic fashion, the imagined architectural style of a "European resort" (Trubina 2015b But the preparation for the Sochi mega-event has expanded room capacity by so much that this has led to destructive competition for survival among hotels during much of the year. When Sochi was awarded the Games in 2007, it had 31,000 rooms, of which only about 1700 were classified according to the international star system (Petrova 2014b).…”