ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Games have not only become more commercialised, but that commercial orientation has made the Olympic Games an agent of urban commercialisation. It reviews the conceptual framework of how the Olympic Games affect urban space. The chapter aims to understand how the Olympic Games affect public space in both the short term and in longer term. Particular focus is placed on processes of commodification, and the notion of a brandscape provides a useful conceptual frame within to understand the processes. There are a number of layers or zones of control that make up the Olympic brandscape. For any sporting event, and Olympic Games, the site of the sporting activity itself is a crucial space. In London, various Live Sites were constructed, where people without event tickets could watch Olympic action on big screens. The chapter is an example of a multidisciplinary study involving an experimental collaboration between authors from the legal and urban studies fields.
