Habitat International 53 (2016) 163e177
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Habitat International
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Planning mega-event built legacies e A case of Expo 2010
* Ying Deng a, , S.W. Poon a, E.H.W. Chan b a Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong b Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong article info abstract
Article history: Mega-events are popular catalysts for launching area-based urban renewal. However, their built legacies Received 9 June 2015 are problematic due to a lack of planning. Besides a much-needed shift in mindset, legacy planning Received in revised form methodology holds the key. This chronic issue is gaining renewed attention with the recent rise of new- 19 November 2015 generation hosts such as China where massive event-led construction was fast-tracked in a top-down Accepted 20 November 2015 fashion. What remains less understood is the impact and implications of such a forceful paradigm on Available online xxx legacy planning and urban renewal. This paper aims to address this gap with an in-depth case study of Expo 2010 Shanghai China. The central theme is to investigate how this paradigm has been adopted to a Keywords: Built legacy previous dockland selected as the Expo 2010 site and a catalyst for city-branding oriented urban renewal. Legacy planning methodology Data was sourced from 2004 to 2015 from personal observations, strategic policies, planning documents, Top-down paradigm photo documentation, and meetings and interviews. This study identifies both the merits and drawbacks Mega-event strategy of this controversial paradigm to caution about its mixed impact on mega-event built legacies. It is Urban renewal concluded that future event cities should shift their mindset from super-developers to guardians of built legacies, and strike a balance between the top-down and bottom-up thinking. A new categorization centering on the legacy planning process is proposed, with guidelines to improve legacy planning methodology for future event cities. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Background introduction Its greatest challenges emerge after the transition of this duality: how to fulfill the longstanding mandate after the cessation of the 1.1. Defining built legacies ephemeral role? Since the 1960s, there has been a global prolifer- ation of mega-event built legacies by scale and complexity. Taking ‘Event legacy’ is an umbrella term most used in the context of World Expos for example, Table 1 categorizes related built legacies global mega-events like Olympic Games and World Expos. It de- into two main types e standalone and area-based. They can be scribes structures which are produced for these short-lived events further divided into several sub-types with examples ranging from and will have long-term implications for host cities and nations. spectacular buildings to advanced infrastructures to revitalized These structures can be planned (environmental improvement), districts. This proliferation has intensified the paradoxical duality of unplanned (sporting ethos), positive (tourism boom), negative built legacies. It is hence necessary to review its causes and prob- (financial deficit), tangible (upgraded infrastructure) or intangible lems before going into the case study. (elevated global status) (Clark, 2008; IOC, 2013b; Hall in Murphy, 1997; Preuss, 2007). Among others built legacies are a focus of 1.2. Mega-event led urban renewal interdisciplinary debate but seldom clearly defined. A mega-event built legacy is a physical structure possessing an In the 1950s, urban renewal was characterized by slum- inborn duality of temporality and permanency. It is purpose-built clearance and engineering megaprojects to revive the economy of to facilitate the holding of an ephemeral mega-event, and will industrialized cities (Altshuler & Luberoff, 2003; Healey, 1992). This function as an enduring urban asset thereafter (Deng & Poon, 2011). infrastructure-based strategy was largely abandoned in the late 1960s due to lacking social and environmental considerations (Roberts & Sykes, 2000). In the 1970s, positioning selective de- * Corresponding author. molition and image-enhancing projects on urban fringes became a E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Deng). more acceptable compromise to ease the tension between http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.11.034 0197-3975/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 164 Y. Deng et al. / Habitat International 53 (2016) 163e177
Table 1 A non-exhaustive list of World Expo built legacies (1962e2010).
Built Types Sub-types Examples legacies
Standalone Symbolic Memorials, monuments The Space Needle e 1962 Seattle; the tower of the Sun e 1970 Osaka; the Skyneedle e Brisbane 1988; the Nepal landmarks Peace Pagoda e Brisbane 1988 Flagship Museums, library, The Pacific Science Center e 1962 Seattle; the knowledge Pavilion (a science museum) e 1988 Brisbane; the China buildings science centers Pavilion, the Expo museum e 2010 Shanghai Conference center, The San Antonio Convention Center e 1968 San Antonio; the Spokane convention center e 1974 Spokane; the exhibition centers Knoxville convention center e 1982 Knoxville; the Brisbane convention and exhibition center e 1988 Brisbane; the Lisbon international exhibition center e 1998 Lisbon; the Expo center, the theme Pavilion e 2010 Shanghai Performing arts centers, Performing arts centers e 1962 Seattle; the Imax movie theater e 1974 Spokane; the Mercedes-Benz Arena e theaters 2010 Shanghai Tourist/recreational The Montreal Casino e 1967 Montreal; the Riverwalk Marketplace (an upscale shopping mall) e 1984 Louisiana; facilities The Casino Lisboa e 1998 Lisbon; A regional shopping mall e 1998 Lisbon; 20 hotels e 1992 Seville Transport Subways An expressway network (redevelopment) e 1967 Montreal; Modernization of the transportation systems e 1992 infrastructures Seville; Ten new subway lines e 2010 Shanghai Water works An artificial island; a boat pier e 1967 Montreal Roads, Expressways A New expressway e 1970 Osaka; A 80-km ring road e 1992 Seville Bridges; tunnels 9 bridges e 1992 Seville; the Vasco da Gama Bridge e 1998 Lisbon Airports A New airport e 1992 Seville; the Centrair Airport e 2005 Aichi; two expanded international airports 2010 Shanghai Railways The Seattle Monorail e 1962 Seattle; the redevelopment of railways e 1967 Montreal; A new railway and an intercity railway line e 1970 Osaka; A railway station e 1992 Seville; expansion of three railway stations e 2010 Shanghai Multi-modal terminals The Gare do oriente (for trains, metro, buses, and taxis) e 1998 Lisbon Meglev train line Megleve train line 2005 Aichi Area- Prominent Parklands; gardens, The Montreal Parkland e 1967 Montreal; the Hemis Fair Park and the river walk e 1968 San Antonio; the Expo based urban districts promenades Commemoration Park e 1970 Osaka; the south bank Parklands e 1988 Brisbane; three riverfront Parks e 2010 Shanghai Theme/amusement The Seattle Center e 1962 Seattle; the Expoland e 1970 Osaka; the World's Fair Park e 1982 Knoxville parks Central business A Premier CBD e 1998 Lisbon districts Science and technology A high-tech R&D center e 1992 Seville; center of information technology, design, media and arts e 2000 parks Hannover Adaptive reuse Reuse of existing exhibition site and facilities e 2000 Hannover Renewed industrial belts Louisville and Nashville Railroad yard and depot e 1982 Knoxville; the Old warehouse district - 1984 Louisiana; Southwest section of the Huangpu riverfronts e 2010 Shanghai Residential/New-town developments The Habitat ’67 converted apartment block e 1967 Motreal; Suita new Town e 1970 Osaka; A residential district for 25,000 people e 1998 Lisbon; the Expo village and the Sanlin Expo Homeland e 2010 Shanghai
economic growth and social frictions (Couch, 1990). In this Due to exorbitant expenditures for staging a mega-event, Essex connection, Expo 1962 in Seattle, USA set a precedent. The Expo and Chalkey's (2004) predicted that mega-events would not be was staged on a peripheral site long reserved for civic uses. About affordable outside developed countries. Nevertheless, the 21st 75% on-site structures were kept as a basis for gradually developing century has so far witnessed mega-events moving from traditional the area into Seattle's most vibrant civic center (Rydell, Findling, & bases in the West to emerging economic powerhouses. By estimate, Pelle, 2000). This first post-war Expo led to a paradigmatic shift China spent USD44 billion on Beijing Olympics (Flyvbjerg & from treating an Expo site as an ephemeral fantasyland to incor- Stewart, 2012) and USD55 billion on Shanghai Expo (Waldmeir, porating the site's renewal process into the city's. Many host cities 2010). Sochi, a small Russian resort, paid USD51 billion for the modelled on this, leaving behind wide-ranging built legacies as 2014 Winter Olympics (MuGller, 2011); while the total costs for exemplified in Table 1. Russia's 2018 World Cup was expected to exceed USD30 billion In the 1980s, place competitiveness was underlined by (Bray, 2011). Free from the affordability concern, these new hosts neoliberal urbanism as a driving force behind economic growth seemed determined in using spectacular construction to (Hall & Hubbard, 1998; Swyngedouw, Moulaert, & Rodriguez, strengthen national prestige. But are they fully immune to the post- 2002). Construction megaprojects regained ground due to their event pitfalls after Expo 1992 in Seville or Olympic 2004 in Athens symbolic and substantial roles as economy generators (Getz, 1991; [see for example (Lentz, 2007; Panagiotopoulou, 2013)]? This Lehrer & Laidley, 2008). The staging of influential mega-events emerging phenomenon is now gaining renewed attention. became unmissible catalysts for launching them (Cuthbert & & ebrary, 2011). However, this mega-event strategy (Chalkley 1.3. Downplayed legacy planning Essex, 1999) is a double-edge sword. The prioritizing of interna- fi fi tionally oriented projects were often justi ed not by scienti c As an indispensable link between the pre- and post-event evidence but by mere speculations of tourism boom, employment timeframes, legacy planning focuses on critical issues of ‘What's increase and rising land and property values (Cashman, 2003; next’ beyond ‘What now’, such as reusing event facilities, redevel- Olds & Ley, 1988). The momentary glory entailed chronic prob- oping vacated land parcels, and reconnecting the site to the city. ‘ ’ ‘ lems of underused white elephants or even isolated urban International experience suggested a common lack of interest islands’. Furthermore, there could be collateral damages such as among host cities in developing a legacy plan than a bid plan. displaced local residents (Olds, 1998), ignored livelihood de- Reasons for this lopsidedness vary. They may include: no urgency velopments (Lenskyj, 2000)orgentrified districts (Andranovich, for handling long-term issues, considering legacies as extra costs & Burbank, Heying, 2001). than a good chance to recoup event investment, no hard-and-fast Y. Deng et al. / Habitat International 53 (2016) 163e177 165 rule to follow, and lacking systematic knowledge transfer In China, eliminating labor-intensive industries has become a (Cashman, 1998; Deng & Poon, 2011). top priority over the past two decades. Such economic restructur- However, counting on a legacy plan might not be enough. As ing is often associated with grand spatial restructuring metaphor- part of a previous study (Deng & Poon, 2014), the performance of ically nicknamed as “empty and fill” by city authorities. This built legacies in four Expo cities e Seville (1992), Lisbon (1998), infrastructure-based strategy is to replace rusty bird cages (dilap- Hannover (2000) and Zaragoza (2008) were reviewed. All four idated industrial belts) with new ones (new commercial districts made detailed legacy plans for launching city-branding urban and office towers) awaiting the arrival of better species (service- renewal, but three fell short of their specific objectives 5e10 oriented industries). However, its implementation met with a years after the closure of respective events. Major problems dilemma in many cities: the ‘old cages’ were emptied but the ‘new included disconnected uses between different zones of the site, birds’ have yet to come. Worth noting is that, this government-led an oversupply of exhibition facilities, and a longer lag time for strategy has been adopted in an unprecedented pace and scale via merging built legacies into existing fabric due to unexpected the staging of Beijing Olympics and Shanghai Expo among other economic slowdown. The findings showed great differences be- major urban events. What remain less understood are some tween developing an event site and developing an urban area; interesting questions about the event version of this top-down and indicated that changes would be the norm for legacy paradigm. How it is realized from conceptualization to imple- planning. mentation? What is its strength and weakness that might have Rectification measures have been introduced by international significant impact on the process and production of legacy plan- sanctioning bodies of mega-events. The International Olympic ning? And what might be its implications for the broader urban Committee considered sustainable legacies as one of the 11 key renewal? criteria in determining the next host city (IOC, 2013a). The Bureau This paper aims to bridge the gap in understanding the spatial- International des Expositions passed a resolution on “the condi- temporal complexity of legacy planning by studying the case of tions of introduction and reuse of the site” in 1994, underlining the Expo 2010 Shanghai China. The focus is on the Expo site as a obligation of host cities to reuse the Expo sites and built legacies catalyst for launching a citywide riverfront renewal program be- (BIE, 2008). Nevertheless, if the decision-making of host-right tween 2000 and 2015. A previous industrialized dockland of 5.28 bidding continues to be heavily weighted towards advanced sq.km, the site accommodated over 300 new-build and adaptation venues and infrastructures, new-generation hosts would be more projects. About 50% of the 2.3 million-sq.m construction is kept as susceptible to serious hangovers of “staged globalization” (Short, legacies in the form of building flagships, conserved heritage, 2008). For instance, Brazil already faced a quandary of inheriting adapted industrial facilities, landscaped parks, and restored river- underused and high-maintenance sporting stadiums in a number front eco-system. These legacies have formed a spatial platform for of co-host cities after FIFA World Cups 2014 (Watts, 2013). more massive developments to unfold. Another major reason for downplaying legacy planning is the Following a commonly adopted categorization, the 15-year fixed timeframe for preparing a mega-event e about seven years legacy planning process of Expo 2010 is divided into four steps as after the announcing of the bid result until the event's opening day. shown in Fig. 1. The focus is on identifying major challenges and When overwhelmed by a plethora of construction schedules, a city strategies to fulfill the key tasks at each step. Worth noting is that, could hardly spare time for anything beyond meeting the un- in theory, a city-branding vison should reflect the perceptions and equivocal event deadline. Paradoxically, this short timeframe is expectations of the majority of citizens (Kavaratzis, 2004; Lynch, longer than one office term for most local governments. Changes in 1960). The public sector shall play a leadership role in the pre- administration may lead to changes in policy. The adoption of Expo timeframe (BIE, 2008), while various market forces will centralized decision-making seems necessary to avoid unwieldy gradually take over the site redevelopment after the Expo. Hence, bureaucracy which easily poses financial or legal risks. To fast-track city-branding visions hereby mainly refer to the city image and event construction, not a few city authorities chose to sidestep identity promoted by city authorities, upon which support policies, fundamental planning prerequisites, disregard comprehensive organizational arrangements and site-specific strategies were impact assessments, or dodge genuine public consultation developed. (Andranovich & Burbank, 2011; Owen, 2002). If this structural Data has been sourced by various means since 2004: dilemma remains, the making of built legacies would become a zero-sum game, with the event duration as a winner and the post- Participant and field observations in major legacy planning ac- event duration a loser. tivities listed in Fig. 1 (2004e07); Site visits and regular communications with key management 2. Aims and approaches and professional personnel (2008e15); Official records, public media, and promotional pamphlets Due to its one-off nature, the legacy planning process is an (2004e15); and understatement in the mega-event related research. This not only Face-to-face or telephone interviews with people who have prevents constructive lessons to be transferred from one host city been involved in the post-Expo development (December to another, but retards the improvement of legacy planning 2014eJanuary 2015). methodology particularly in host cities from emerging economies. This provides an initial thrust for conducting an in-depth case The selection of interviewees relied on both personal connec- study, because the value of case research is not for statistical tion and the snowballing technique. To collect attitudinal evidence, generalization e to increase predictability; but for analytic gener- preference was given to those who were involved in the Expo ation e to generate or expand theories (Yin, 2013). This paper is preparation and are still working for the post-Expo development. intended to contribute to future practice and research in twofold: Some of them further recommended their colleagues to provide more information through briefing sessions, site visits and informal To help mega-event hosts appreciate the values of legacy interviews. Table 2 lists the background information of informants planning when adopting the mega-event strategy. and interview details. Data collection of the post-Expo stage To provide methodological insights for launching mega-event centered on the following questions which were sent to those in- led urban renewal in the form of legacy planning guidelines. formants before interviews: 166 Y. Deng et al. / Habitat International 53 (2016) 163e177
Fig. 1. Analytic framework of the legacy planning process of the Expo 2010 site.
Table 2 A list of informants and interview details (as at January 2015).
Interviewee Present position (post-Expo 2011-) Previous position (Expo preparation 2004 Interview approaches Interview Interview duration code e10) venues (hours)
1 Business Development Deputy Director, Senior Officer, SEB Face-to-face, One-on- Office 2.5 ESG one 2 Secretary of Internal Ethics Committee, Deputy Director of Human Resources, SEB ditto Office 1.5 ESG 3 Business Development Director, ESG Director of Planning Department, Expo Land ditto Office 0.5 4 Business Development Officer, ESG Planning Department Officer, SEB ditto Meeting room 1.5 5 President, ESG Deputy Director (Construction), SEB ditto Office 2 6 Vice President, ESG Head of Project Management Department, ditto Office 1.5 SEB 7 Creativity Development Senior Officer, Senior Researcher, SEB Via phone calls / 0.5 ESG 8 Chief Editor of Expo Annals, ESG Director of Research Center, SEB Face-to-face, one-on- Meeting room 1 one 9 Deputy Chief Editor of Expo Annals, ESG Media Officer, SEB Face-to-face, Group ditto 0.5 10 Officer of WOE, ESG Liaison Officer, SEB 11 ditto Logistics Officer, SEB 12 ditto Research Officer, SEB 13 Deputy Director of WOE, ESG Senior Planning Officer, SEB Via emails / / 14 Government officer Senior Researcher, SEB Face-to-face, One-on- Office 2 one 15 Freelancer Expo Liaison Officer of Foreign Consulate ditto Restaurant 1 16 Urban Planner Urban Planner (for the planning of the Expo ditto Office 1 site)
Notes: ESG e Expo Shanghai Group (2011-); SEB e Shanghai Expo Bureau (2004e10); WOE e wholly owned enterprise.