ABSTRACT
Olympic legacies are one of the unsolved mysteries surrounding the aftermath of the world’s largest sporting event. While many host cities plan for valuable legacies, what exactly they are and how they came into being, are widely debated questions among international scholars, politicians, urban planners and sports enthusiasts. True legacies only emerge after the Games and remain largely unexplored as the spotlight of the event shifts to the next host. One fact, however, is indisputable: the Olympic Games provide the host city with an unprecedented opportunity for change. Within a few years, cities undergo a transformation stimulated by the hope for economic growth, a world-class image, enhanced connectivity and urban regeneration. Yet whether these desirable outcomes or their negative side-effects remain in host cities after the Games have left are “known unknowns” * (Horne 2007: 86). In this book, I appraise the Olympic Games and their effects on metropolises as momentous opportunities to realize ambitious urban and regional goals. I find that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) can influence these local goals, sometimes creating – but also squandering – valuable opportunities for the host city. Unless local governments take proactive steps to ensure that the urban and transportation decision-making does not serve only the event’s short-term needs, city planners will not get the transformation and long-term benefits they had hoped for.
