How The Olympics Can Shape A City – Part I

In a few days, Paris will host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics games.

Sporting and Social event dating back to Ancient Greece until 396 AD, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin restored the Olympic Games in 1896, in the Athens stadium.

Every four years, a capital city will host the Games and its millions of spectators.

Our aim is to show how the organisation of the Games can affect the urbanisation, economy and social rules governing a city and a country, both before and after the Games.

 We have chosen only the Summer Games for the period 1992 (Barcelona) to Paris, i.e. 32 years, one generation.

Part I will focus on starting an application towards IOC (International Olympic Committee) requirements (1) and how the buildings for the Games are part of an urban policy (2).

1. Requirements from the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

Summer Games represents more than 300 events. This is why the IOC requires a minimum of forty thousand available hotel rooms in the hosting city; large venues for the opening and closing ceremonies and important relevant infrastructures (Roads, train lines, and airports which sometimes need to be upgraded or constructed).

The cost of planning, hiring consultants, organizing events, and the necessary travel consistently falls between $50 million and $100 million. The cost remains for all unsuccessful candidates and will be a burden for National tax payers[1].

Cost of each Summer games is approximately 10 billion USD.

Budget for all Summer games – for our chosen time period, 1992 to-date – have be overrun[2].

       Tokyo        2020        tbd (Coronavirus times)

Copyright Daily Mail, 6 March 2020_Cost of Olympics_1992 to 2000.

Even if millions of tourists will attend the event, budget is always overrun in dramatic proportions.

It is striking to see that the IOC has chosen, at the same time in September 2017, two Hosting cities for 2024 and for 2028, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Paris, the only candidate, was chosen for 2024, maybe as milestone of the 1924 Games.

The budget envisaged for the Games is also an opportunity for a city, a region, a country to showcase areas that have been abandoned or are socially deprived and enhance general infrastructures, housing and transportation.

1. Part of an urban renewal policy

With the Town planning, the Games give the opportunity for renovating run-down districts, completely new roads and public transports, connect new houses to the Centre of the city, and upgrade airports and ports for welcoming millions of visitors.

A few years after joining the EU, Barcelona (Spain) has decided to promote the city's coastline and regenerate a derelict industrial site, projects representing 42% of the total investment for the Games (USD 9.6m).

Image GETTY copyright

[1] https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/economics-hosting-olympic-games, 14 December 2021.

[2] Final Budget Figures are variable between different sources

[3] https://geographyfieldwork.com/5512788/OlympicImpact.pdf

[4] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-06/how-sydney-2000-olympics-transformed-the-suburb-of-homebush/12633180

[5]https://olympics.com/ioc/news/athens-infrastructure-boosted-by-olympic-games-2004

[6] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/jul/29/olympicgames2008.china

[7] https://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/our-stories/queen-elizabeth-olympic-park-10-years