ABSTRACT
As one enters the viewing platform of the Olympic Park at Barra da Tijuca, a bold statement is displayed on the wall above the balcony: ‘The Games must serve the city’. The statement is credited to former Barcelona Mayor Pasqual Maragall whose quote Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro borrowed, eager to equate the urban interventions for the 2016 Games with the wide-ranging transformation witnessed in the Catalan capital more than two decades ago. It is claimed that Rio is undergoing a watershed moment with mega-events propelling it to global city status (Paes, 2015). Expectations are at such a level that when Paes was confronted by a recent study showing marginal benefits for cities hosting mega-events the answer was bold: ‘We will leave Barcelona in the dust’ (Fernandes, 2015).
