Urban Governance, Policies, and the Long-Term Impacts of the Olympics
Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme 2014-2015 IOC Olympic Studies Centre Final Report: Governing to maintain legacies: urban governance, policies, and the long-term impacts of the Olympics Mark Davidson School of Geography, Clark University June 2015 1 Abstract Every Olympic host city now pursues an array of legacy goals, ranging from increased sports participation rates and environmental remediation, through to widespread economic redevelopment. With the array of legacy objectives growing, the task of generating and maintaining legacy pledges is becoming ever greater for Olympic cities. This project investigated how four recent host cities – Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City and Vancouver – have gone about the production of Olympic legacy over the medium and long term. The focus of the research was upon the urban governmental practices and reforms that have been undertaken in each city. The research found that the four cities have different post-Games legacy trajectories. However, a number of trends emerged across the different cases, including: the centrality of community development to post-Games venue management, the relationship between hosting models and legacy outcomes, the emergence of trusts and foundations within the legacy project, the tendency for legacy to become site specific over time, and the importance of localised governmental structures to the project of legacy governance. The report ends with a series of conclusions and recommendations. Key words: Olympic legacy, governance, urban, case studies, geography 2 Executive Summary The issue of legacy has moved to the centre of the Olympic agenda (IOC, 2013). This research project examined how four different host cities – Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Salt Lake City (2002) and Vancouver (2010) – have engaged with legacy over the medium and long term.
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