scholarly journals Talking about the ‘rotten fruits’ of Rio 2016: Framing mega-event legacies

2019 ◽  
pp. 101269021987884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Talbot

Legacy has become a watchword of hosting mega-events in recent years, used to justify massive spending and far-reaching urban transformations. However, academic studies of legacy outcomes suggest there is only limited evidence for the efficacy of using mega-events to deliver broader policy goals. The discourse of legacy promulgated by the International Olympic Committee promotes a fantastical vision of the possibilities created by mega-events while obfuscating critical analyses of legacy. This paper explores legacy talk among a wholly different group – activists who have protested against the Olympic Games, specifically in Rio de Janeiro – based on interviews conducted two years after the Games as part of a broader ethnographic study. The positive connotations of legacy, even among these Olympic critics, places a straitjacket on conversation, leading activists to discuss specific legacy projects, at the expense of highlighting the very real harms of mega-event development, such as evictions, gentrification and militarization. As such, there is a need to deepen understanding that legacy encompasses all that is left behind after mega-events, not only the positive impacts.

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Endrit Kromidha ◽  
Laura J. Spence ◽  
Stephanos Anastasiadis ◽  
Darla Dore

The purpose of this research is to analyze how governance is related to sustainability and innovation in mega-events over time by looking at the Olympic Games as a case study. Three main contributions are made to management research and practice. First, Foucauldian governmentality is built upon and enriched with a longitudinal perspective by following the evolution of Visibility, Techne, Episteme, and Identity analytics of governmentality. Second, an innovative methodology based on interviews, a systematic documentary review, and software-assisted thematic auto-coding for a theory-led structured analysis is applied. Third, the theoretical and empirical contribution of this study on the longitudinal aspects of governmentality over different parties and outlets of information could be used to guide practical and strategic decisions for managers and policy makers. In addition to its scholarly importance, this work is needed because mega-events can have a sustainable long-term impact, balancing legacy and innovative change.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengli Tien ◽  
Huai-Chun Lo ◽  
Hsiou-Wei Lin

This study concerns research related to mega events, such as the Olympic Games, to determine whether the economic impact of the Olympic Games on the host countries is significant. This study uses two methods, panel data analysis and event study, to test hypotheses based on the data from 15 countries that have hosted 24 summer and winter Olympic Games. The results indicate that the economic impact of the Olympic Games on the host countries is only significant in terms of certain parameters (i.e., gross domestic product performance and unemployment) in the short term. These findings provide decision makers with comprehensive and multidimensional knowledge about the economic impact of hosting a mega event and about whether their objectives can be realized as expected.


2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Curi ◽  
Jorge Knijnik ◽  
Gilmar Mascarenhas

Sport mega-events were very important for Brazil in 2007. The 15th Pan American Games took place in Rio de Janeiro. It was the largest international tournament held in Brazil since the 1950 World Cup and the 1963 Pan American Games. The latter were held in São Paulo. In 2007, 5000 athletes and 60,000 tourists were expected from the 42 participating countries. Despite being a developing country, Brazil does have a sizable middle class, but in Rio de Janeiro there are also lots of favelas (slums), where millions of poor people live. Despite vast differences in wealth, power and social status, these socially and culturally distinct groups nonetheless utilize common public spaces. We see this social confrontation as a major question for the analyses of sport mega-events and we would like to demonstrate its consequences on a local level . This social tension was such that the Organizing Committee actually constructed a ‘big wall’ around the stadiums which turned them into islands of excellence to be shown on television, thus hiding the unsightly parts of the city, that is, poor neighborhoods and favelas. This wall could be seen as the BRIC-way of organizing mega-events.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Kassens-Noor

Mega-events like the Olympic Games are powerful forces that shape cities. In the wake of mega-events, a variety of positive and negative legacies have remained in host cities. In order to bring some theoretical clarity to debates about legacy creation, I introduce the concepts of the mega-event utopia, dystopia and heterotopia. A mega-event utopia is ideal and imaginary urbanism embracing abstract concepts about economies, socio-political systems, spaces, and societies <em>in</em> the host <em>during</em> events. The mega-event utopia (in contrast to other utopian visions other stakeholders may hold) is dictated by the desires of the mega-event owners irrespective of the realities in the event host. In short, a mega-event utopia is the perfect event host from the owner’s perspective. Mega-event utopias are suggested as a theoretical model for the systematic transformation of their host cities. As large-scale events progress as ever more powerful transformers into this century, <em>mega-event dystopias</em> have emerged as negatives of these idealistic utopias. As hybrid post-event landscapes, m<em>ega-event heterotopias</em> manifest the temporary mega-event utopia as legacy imprints into the long-term realities in hosting cities. Using the Olympic utopia as an example of a mega-event utopia, I theorize utopian visions around four urban traits: economy, image, infrastructure and society. Through the concept of the <em>mega-event legacy utopia</em>, I also provide some insight toward the operationalization of the four urban traits for a city’s economic development, local place marketing, urban development, and public participation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135676672110632
Author(s):  
Luciana Brandão Ferreira ◽  
Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi ◽  
Glauber Eduardo de Oliveira Santos ◽  
Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour

This study analyzes the effect of Brazil's national tourism brand on the image of Rio de Janeiro as the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games, and the reciprocal effect of Rio de Janeiro on Brazil, considering both as tourist destinations. A quantitative study was employed using structured questionnaires, with a sample of foreign respondents ( n = 340) and a simultaneous equation method. A positive reciprocal effect was found. In general, the perception of a country as a tourist destination influences destinations within that country. However, the Brazil destination brand image did not influence Rio. This situation was proved to be an exception to the rule, the sports mega-event context probably contributing to the result.


Author(s):  
Tiago Ribeiro ◽  
Abel Correia ◽  
Rui Biscaia ◽  
Tom Bason

The purpose of this study is to extend previous research on organisational issues of sport mega-events through the development of a framework for the Olympic Games. A three-step approach was taken. Firstly, a systematic literature review was conducted based on journal articles, academic books and official reports published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Games Organising Committees (OGOC). Secondly, the issues identified within the media regarding the 2016 Olympic Games were analysed. Lastly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten stakeholders to further examine the organisational issues of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. A new extended conceptual framework of organisational issues associated with the Olympic Games is then proposed. Issue categories faced by the organising committee include politics, marketing, media and visibility, financial, planning, negotiation and ethics, operations, infrastructure, human resources, social, environmental and legacy. These 12 dimensions of organisational issues account for a total of 76 specific issues. The paper provides critical information to aid the IOC and OGOCs in understanding organisational issues that may arise in future of Olympic Games.


2022 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio M. Rocha ◽  
Zixuan Xiao

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review to understand how empirical data have informed the knowledge about the relationship between hosting sport mega-events and displacement of host community residents. Following the PRISMA protocol, we conducted a search of academic and gray literature in sport, social sciences, and humanities databases. We excluded conceptual papers, conference abstracts, and works that discuss urban transformation or displacement but are not related to sport events. We also excluded works that associate sport mega-events with urban transformations but are not related to resident displacement. From the initial 2,372 works reviewed, 22 met the inclusion criteria. In empirical studies, displacement of residents has been studied exclusively in the context of the Olympic Games, since Seoul 1988, but with a higher frequency in most recent Games (Beijing, London, and Rio). The gigantism and the sense of urgency created by the Olympic Games may explain why this event has been frequently associated with resident displacement. Findings showed that residents suffered either direct, forced evictions or indirect displacements. The selected studies show a contradiction between the discourse of sport mega-events guardians for supporting the United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDG) and the practice of human rights within host cities of such events.


Author(s):  
Volodymyr Kovpak

In recent decades, the Olympic Games have become one of the most important mega-events in the world. The large number of cities applying for the Olympics and the increase in mega-event budgets indicate that the leadership of cities and regions perceive the possibility of holding the Olympics as a tool to improve economic and social aspects in cities by accumulating investment. Since its inception, the Olympic Games have closely influenced urbanization processes in host societies. From the second half of the 20th century, a significant evolution can be observed via increasing the scale of the mega-event: from the Olympic mono-stadium to the Olympic quarter, urban and regional planning. Thus, the Olympics began to provide investment not only in sports infrastructure but also in becoming an element of urban and regional renewal and development, introducing changes in transport infrastructure, housing, parks, streets, public space. From the point of view of urban and regional planning, the holding of such a mega-event as the Olympics is considered within the concept of the Olympic heritage; namely, researchers study the material impact of mega-events. The tangible Olympic legacy is divided into sports and non-sports. The sports heritage of mega-events includes sports facilities, as well as training facilities. The non-sporting heritage of the mega-event includes the Olympic Villages (after the mega-event, the Olympic Village usually becomes the city's housing stock), the media center (which has the potential to become a shopping, entertainment, exhibition, or multicenter), renewed transport infrastructure and public and park spaces, urban environment. Especially for cities hosting a mega-event, the benefits of hosting the Olympics can be vast and varied. In the post-Fordism world, cities began to consider the possibility of holding the Olympics as a tool for the revival of the city. Such applications can be called "regeneration games". The Olympic Games can be part of a strategic plan to renovate the city, significantly change the urban environment, improve transport infrastructure, and affect the quality of life in the city. However, the mega-event can have a negative impact on the city, forming an overuse of funds or the implementation of unnecessary infrastructure of the city, which declines after the Olympics. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-333
Author(s):  
Ching-Hung Chang ◽  
Brian EM King ◽  
Shih-Tung Shu

The sponsoring of mega-events enables organizations to capitalize on the power of sport to stimulate passionate brand identifications among attendees. However, a critical issue that has not been addressed by scholars is whether the effects of sponsoring mega-events such as the Olympics by a foreign brand will resemble the equivalent sponsorship by a domestic counterpart. In particular, few scholars have investigated attendee perceptions of congruities between event sponsor and self-sponsor brand favorability emanating from an overseas country with where there are longstanding tensions and from home. This study investigated attendees at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, a city with a long history of patriotic nationalism directed against Japan. The researchers identify that self-domestic sponsor congruity mediates the impact of patriotism among domestic attendees on their favorability toward domestic brands. Self-foreign sponsor congruity moderates the impact of event liking on favorability, even in the case of sponsors from a country with hostile connotations. The study has managerial implications for targeting and localization strategies by sponsor brands both domestic and overseas. It is proposed that foreign brand sponsors of mega-events should pursue local brand adaption through the incorporation local narratives with which residents can identify.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 910
Author(s):  
Gustavo Lopes dos Santos ◽  
Rosário Macário ◽  
Marie Delaplace ◽  
Stefano Di Vita

Due to public opposition against the unsustainability of hosting the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee adopted Olympic Agenda 2020 to adjust the event requirements to address modern society’s sustainability concerns. Since its implementation, the Agenda has driven important changes regarding the planning and organization of the Olympics, including the possibility of regions being hosts. This allows the sprawl of Olympic venues over larger territories, theoretically facilitating the alignment of event requirements with the needs of the intensively growing contemporary urban areas. However, the larger the host territory, the more complex becomes its mobility planning, as transport requirements for participants still have to be fulfilled, and the host populations still expect to inherit benefits from any investments made. The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss new challenges that such modifications bring for mega-event mobility planning. First, based on the academic literature of case studies of previous Olympic cities, a theoretical framework to systematize the mobility problem at the Olympic Games is proposed for further validation, identifying the dimensions of the related knowledge frames. Second, the mobility planning for the case study of the first ever Olympic region—the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Games—is described. Using this case study, the proposed framework is then extrapolated for cases of Olympic regions in order to identify any shifts in the paradigm of mobility planning when increasing the spatial scale of Olympic hosts. Conclusions indicate that, if properly addressed, unsustainability might be mitigated in Olympic regions, but mega-event planners will have to consider new issues affecting host communities and event stakeholders.


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