ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in this book. It discusses the effort spent on dissecting, analysing and understanding the London Olympics. The critical researchers understands the London model and its implications, because this model is being used as a blueprint that is promoted as best practice worldwide with (normative) implications for the organisation of other global mega-event worldwide and for urban planning, policies and politics in the UK in general. The first thematic strand that runs through several chapters is concerned with how we can define, measure, analyse, research and evaluate the elusive term 'legacy' and what the difficulties and limitations are in doing so. Another contested discourse in relation to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games and their legacies is the role of national identities. Mike Raco has investigated the role of the global consultancies mentioned by Grabher and Thiel and he has traced the creation of the legal, political and governance frameworks.
