ABSTRACT
For decades, the Chinese leadership has used large-scale events, including national celebrations and international meetings, as an occasion to initiate urban change and accelerate the modernisation of its national capital. With investments surpassing any other event in Olympic history, Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games served as a catalyst for a thorough transformation of the city’s physical and social landscape.1 While this rapid transformation carries important benefits – increasing Beijing’s global visibility, boosting civic pride, modernising urban infrastructures, and stimulating the local economy in the tourism and real estate sectors – it also bears important social, cultural and economic costs.
