ABSTRACT
This chapter examines concurrent processes of seduction and exclusion in the transformation of the city's physical landscape, both natural and man-made, in order to conform, as much as possible, to the picture-perfect vision imagined by city marketers and other image producers. It explores several mechanisms put in place by host cities to tackle the problem posed by the visibility of poverty or post-industrial wasteland and decay, and their material manifestations of informality and marginality, in the urban landscape. The chapter suggests that the use of mega-events as a mechanism for stimulating urban transformations can lead to a range of exclusionary practices that have a direct and disproportionate impact upon the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society. It also examines policies, strategies and interventions that sought to seduce and captivate through grandiose deployment of resources and ostentatious architectural projects.
