scholarly journals Mega events as a pretext for infrastructural development: the case of the All African Games Athletes Village, Alexandra, Johannesburg

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (23) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Gunter
Keyword(s):  
Social Housing ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Infrastructural Development ◽  
Massive Scale ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
Commonwealth Games ◽  
The City

AbstractThe hosting of mega events in the Global South has become a symbol of prestige and national pride. From the hosting of international mega events such as the world cup, to regional events like the Commonwealth Games, developing nations are hosting mega events frequently and on a massive scale. Often used as a justification for this escapade in hosting a mega event is the purposed infrastructural legacy that will remain after the event. From the bid documents of the London Olympics to the Delhi Common Wealth Games, the pretext of infrastructural legacy is cited as a legitimate reason for spending the billions of dollars needed for hosting the event. This paper looks at this justification in the context of the All Africa Games which was hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1999. It examines how the legacy infrastructure from this event has been utilised as a social housing development and how the billions of dollars spent on the infrastructural legacy of the games has been used by local residence of the city. The vast majority of the current residence of the All Africa Games Athletes’ Village have little recollection of the Games and do not feel that the housing stock they have received is of significantly better quality than that of other social housing. This points to the contentious claim that developmental infrastructure built through hosting a mega event is of superior quality or brings greater benefit to the end users. That is not to say that hosting a mega event does not have benefits; however, the claim of development through hosting, in the case of Johannesburg, seems disingenuous.

The Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro 2007: Consequences of a sport mega-event on a BRIC country

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Curi ◽  
Jorge Knijnik ◽  
Gilmar Mascarenhas
Keyword(s):  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Poor People ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Major Question ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Pan American ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
Social Confrontation ◽  
The City

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.

No Right to Share the City: Being Homeless in Rio de Janeiro during the FIFA World Cup

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Kassens-Noor ◽  
Joshua Ladd
Keyword(s):  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conflict Zones ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
New Codes ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
The City

To stage a successful mega-event, hosts believe they must present their city as safe and clean. Thus, policy-makers create and enforce spatial rules to hide the homeless from public view. Spatial conflicts peak when the homeless use public places selected for mega-event staging. We analyze these space conflicts from the perspective of the homeless before and during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. We propose a framework of clean streets policies that are regularly used based on a spectrum of high- to low-conflict zones. Furthermore, we contribute to current knowledge suggesting there are invisible spatial barriers in no-conflict zones that violently enable new codes of behaviors for and among the homeless.

scholarly journals Os jogos sociais nas cidades dos megaeventos esportivos: Etnografia em redes e sociabilidades políticas efervescentes, no contexto de Porto Alegre-RS

ILUMINURAS ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (27) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anelise Gutterres
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Urban Dynamics ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Political Networks ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Esse ensaio apresenta a experiência do trabalho com redes de negociação e resistência em contextos urbanos.Partindo da disciplina antropológica e das pesquisas em torno do fenômeno da cidade é discutido a relevância das redes sociais para o fluxo de trocas - formador de vínculopolíticos e partidários - no estudo do impacto de eventos como a Copa do Mundo, em Porto Alegre.Palavras chave: Ritmos temporais e megaeventos. Sociabilidade. Rede política. Dinâmicas urbanas. The politics sociability in the cities of mega-events: Ethnography of social network in the context of Porto Alegre- RS Abstract This essay presents the experience of working with networks of negotiation and resistance in urban contexts.From within of anthropology and of the studies about the city is discussing the relevance ofsocial networks for the flow of exchange - moulder of political links andmembers of a paty - for the study of the impact of events like the World Cup in Porto Alegre.Keywords: Time rhythm and mega events. Sociability. Political networks. Urban dynamics.

scholarly journals Mega Events and Urban Conflicts in Valencia, Spain: Contesting the New Urban Modernity

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis del Romero Renau ◽  
Catherine Trudelle
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Local Administration ◽  
Urban Modernity ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
The City ◽  
Urban Conflicts

The local and regional administrations of Valencia, Spain, have been working to position the city, which is the country's third largest in terms of population, as an international destination for luxury tourism through sports mega-events. Valencia's new image as a “mega-events city” has been criticized by citizens and urban-based movements on social and environmental grounds, resulting in various urban conflicts. The aim of this paper is to examine the causes and dynamics of these conflicts in order to understand the discourse and rationales behind the criticism. This will also include an examination of the ways in which these conflicts were managed by the local administration, especially in the months leading up to and during the events, when the city was receiving worldwide media coverage. Researching local print media, we focused on urban conflicts that took place in Valencia between 1995 and 2010. We also looked at the performance of urban-based movements and the administration as conflicting actors. One of the main findings was the strong consensual authoritarianism manifested by the administration and mega-event organizers when making decisions and managing urban conflicts related to mega-events.

scholarly journals Copa do Mundo da FIFA e Jogos Olímpicos e Paralímpicos no Brasil: legados no município de Campinas-SP (FIFA World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil: Legacies in the municipality of Campinas-SP)

Retos ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 86-94
Author(s):  
Dirceu Santos Silva ◽  
Olívia Cristina Ferreira Ribeiro ◽  
Bruno Modesto Silvestre ◽  
Marina Brasiliano Salerno
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Sports Facilities ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
The City

Resumo. O objetivo do artigo foi analisar os legados dos megaeventos esportivos no município de Campinas-SP, em decorrência da realização da Copa do Mundo da FIFA de 2014 e Jogos Olímpicos e Paralímpicos de 2016. Trata-se de uma pesquisa com método descritivo-interpretativo, de abordagem quanti-qualitativa. A coleta de dados envolveu observações in loco e entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores municipais, seguida de análise de conteúdo por meio do programa Iramuteq. Os resultados do Iramuteq permitiram a criação de quatro categorias: Centro Esportivo de Alto Rendimento (CEAR), Legados Negativos, Recepção e Segurança. Na categoria CEAR, reportou-se a ausência de planejamento e a inauguração parcial do equipamento esportivo, com atrasos e obra embargada. Nas categorias legados negativos e recepção das delegações foram reportadas a neutralidade ou negação dos legados e a superestimação dos impactos possíveis no período que antecede a realização dos megaeventos esportivos. Na categoria segurança, a única que apresentou um legado positivo para a cidade, foi reportada a melhoria da qualificação profissional, governança, e troca de conhecimento entre diferentes instituições que realizavam o monitoramento e proteção da população local, turistas e delegações. Por fim, pode-se concluir que, a despeito do observado na categoria segurança, os legados dos megaeventos esportivos em Campinas não se materializaram, de modo que a cidade não aprimorou a sua infraestrutura esportiva, tampouco obteve impacto significativo em sua economia. Abstract. The aim of this study was to analyze sports mega events legacy to the city of Campinas-SP after FIFA 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Games. A descriptive-interpretative with a quanti-qualitative analysis was performed. Semi-structured interviews with city stakeholders and in loco observations were used for data collection, then transcription content analysis was performed by Iramuteq software. The program identified four different categories: High Performance Sport Center (HPSC), Negative Legacies, Delegation Reception and Safety. It was reported a lack of planning, delays and embargoes regarding HPSC openings and equipment use. For Negative Legacies and Delegation Reception, it was reported neutral or negative legacies and an overestimation of possible positive impacts just before the sports mega events. The only category that showed a positive legacy was Safety, it was reported better professional training, government and knowledge exchange between the institutions responsible for monitoring and protection of local population, tourists and sports delegations. Finally, with the exception of Safety, the positive sports mega events legacies at Campinas-SP did not occur, since the city did not improve their sports facilities and did not have a significant economy impact.

scholarly journals Urban Development Through the 2018 FIFA Men’s Football World Cup: Mutated Mobile Policies in the Peripheries

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-41
Author(s):  
Свен Дэниель Вольфе
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Central State ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Developing Cities ◽  
The World ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Mega Event

Planners, politicians, boosters and other elites often use mega-events like the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup as a strategy for urban development. This was also the case with the World Cup, hosted in eleven Russian cities and designed to modernize Russia’s peripheral host cities. While the idea of developing cities through mega-events is common, the Russian experience displays much that is new. This paper examines urban development in the World Cup as an example of mobile policy, exploring how this mega-event was imported from abroad and how this policy mutated as it was implemented on the ground in Russia. The specificities of the Russian experience were due in large part to the ways in which the World Cup organizing committee was created and operated as an extension of the central government in Moscow. What appeared at first to be a way for Russian peripheral host cities to differentiate themselves through urban development in a form of inter-urban competition, turned out to be a reestablishment of the central state in regional spatial planning. In this way, even as certain material conditions in the host cities were improved, the World Cup represented not an expression of regional democracy, nor even a strategy for inter-urban differentiation, but rather one more instance of development dictated from the center and from afar.

scholarly journals Commonwealth Games: can Africa afford the games?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62
Author(s):  
Musa Gumede ◽  
Vusi Mazibuko ◽  
Pumela Msweli
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
African Continent ◽  
National Pride ◽  
Intangible Benefits ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
Commonwealth Games ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

The Commonwealth Games Federation recently awarded the hosting of the 2022 Games to Durban, South Africa. This will be the first time the Games are hosted in the African continent. The paper looks into whether tangible benefits for hosting mega-events are less or more important than intangible benefits. In investigating this issue, the paper takes a political geography theoretical stance for its ability to provide normative ideological content for explaining intangible and tangible values for hosting Commonwealth Games. The paper looks at pros and cons for investing in mega-event infrastructure and also looks at the cost of hosting the Games for cities. The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi budgeted $240 million for the entire Games, but the actual costs after the Games were found to be $1.7 billion. Similarly, in 2014 Glasgow, the cost of the Games was calculated at £575 million ($690 million). The paper looks at whether South Africa as the 2022 Commonwealth Games host can afford the games. It also considers the impact of the Games on national identity, national pride and patriotism here identified as novelty values that preserve social cohesion, a social attribute that has to be in place to build a robust economy. The paper concludes by noting that the success of the Games will depend on deliberate investment in catalytic facilities in areas that will be sustained post event. The amount of novelty value generated out of the Commonwealth Games will depend on how successful the Games are and on how the communities are able to interact with the facilities post event.

scholarly journals INFLUENCE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES AS MEGA-EVENT ON URBANIZATION PROCESSES IN THE CITY AND THE REGION

2021 ◽  
pp. 241-252
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Kovpak
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Regional Planning ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Urban And Regional Planning ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
The City ◽  
The Olympic Games

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. 

Developing leveraging strategies for pre-Games training for mega-events in non-host cities

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 740-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheranne Fairley ◽  
Donna M. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Planning Process ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
Commonwealth Games ◽  
The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how non-host cities strategically plan to leverage pre-Games training for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to maximize benefits to the city. Design/methodology/approach Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with key tourism and government stakeholders involved in developing leveraging strategies for pre-Games training in a non-host city. Interviews were conducted a little over 18 months before the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Findings A model of the strategic planning of leveraging pre-Games training is presented. Pre-Games training was positioned as a leverageable resource. The non-host city was well positioned to host pre-Games training given its existing sport focus and facilities and its proximity to the host city and its similar climate. Opportunities, objectives, means, and considerations were constantly developed. The city strategically targeted teams to maximize the use of the training facilities and make the most of the value of well-known athletes, while being cautious of overcrowding. The teams had to be secured before strategies were devised to achieve other opportunities and objectives. Short-term benefits included generating tourism through visiting teams and entourages and integrating visiting teams into the local community through education and sport programming. Long-term benefits included building the destination’s capacity and reputation as a place for elite training camps and tourism. Practical implications Understanding how to develop strategies to leverage pre-Games training can inform those responsible for developing and implementing pre-Games training strategies and lead to maximizing the benefits to a city or region. Originality/value Limited research has examined the strategic planning process used to develop tactics to leverage mega-events. This study provides insight into the strategic planning process of non-host cities to increase short- and long-term benefits by leveraging pre-Games training.

scholarly journals Delivering Sports Participation Legacies at the Grassroots Level: The Voluntary Sports Clubs of Glasgow 2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eilidh H.R. Macrae
Keyword(s):  
Phase 1 ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Sports Clubs ◽  
Mega Events ◽  
London 2012 ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Mega Event ◽  
Commonwealth Games

Voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) provide the primary opportunities for organized community sport in the UK and thus hold the responsibility for delivering on mega-event sports participation legacies. This study presents findings from open-ended questionnaires and interviews conducted in two phases (Phase 1—Spring, 2013; Phase 2—Summer, 2015) with representatives from a sample (n = 39) of VSCs to understand their ability to deliver on the participation legacy goals of London 2012 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Thematic analysis of the data outlined three themes where support for VSCs should be placed when planning future mega-events: building VSC capacity, retaining members in the long-term, and promoting general visibility of the VSC throughout the event. Bid teams who hope to use mega-events as catalysts for sports participation increases should direct funding and guidance toward VSCs to ensure they have the tools, knowledge, and capacity to deliver on national sports participation ambitions.

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