ABSTRACT
Globalization and modernity are constructed and maintained in many ways. One of the most important is through the experience of mega-events and spectaculars hosted in particular cities. The circulation of these events in different cities across the world both creates and tightens global urban networks. These spectaculars connect cities and societies through global discourses and shared practices. The host cities also have opportunities for achieving or reaffirming global city status, acting as platforms for globalizing trends, and laboratories for future urban forms. The host cities are hubs and exchanges in global flows and networks, transmission points in the production of a global society (Gold and Gold 2005; Roche 2006).
