The years in which the Summer Olympic Games are held, such as this 2024 in Paris, the debate about the advisability or not of being the host city for them is reactivated in all forums dealing with urban development. This debate now extends to a wide range of sports competitions and an extensive list of cities aspiring to host them.
This is undoubtedly the case for Barcelona and its long-standing positioning as a candidate for the most varied sporting events. This year, as is well known, it is the turn of the America's Cup sailing race, while in 2026 it will be the start of the Tour de France, to name two of the most internationally prominent. It has also just been announced that the Catalan capital has already shown its interest in hosting in 2029 the second edition of the yet-to-be-born Electronic Sports Olympic Games, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is trying to promote.
More than three decades after the celebration of the Olympic Games in Barcelona have not erased the iconic images provided by the city and its marriage with all kinds of sports disciplines. The 1992 Games marked a milestone in this regard, to such an extent that practically all subsequent editions have tried to draw inspiration from the success of the Catalan capital, just as future ones still do. For example, at the end of 2022, a new strategic plan for the city of Istanbul was presented for the 2050 horizon, which included the bid for the 2036 Games, and the case of Barcelona was referenced on several occasions during that presentation.
However, it has also been noted that the vast majority of subsequent Olympic events have not achieved results comparable to those of Barcelona. This can be attributed to the fact that organizing major sporting events has become problematic today. Citizen opposition, for example, led Boston to withdraw its bid to host this year's Olympic Games. Closer to home, the case of a (im)possible Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees is known to all.
Almost ten years ago, the Brookings Institution, an American public policy think tank, published Circus Maximus, an essay in which its researcher Andrew Zimbalist delved into the complex economic and social impacts of hosting large-scale sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.
One of the central arguments in Circus Maximus is that the economic benefits of hosting these sporting events are often exaggerated, fundamentally because the expenditure always irremediably exceeds what was foreseen. Thus, for example, for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, 17,000 million dollars were budgeted and 29,000 were actually spent, a discrepancy that was repeated with the Paralympics. A situation that is increasingly the norm and not the exception.
Zimbalist uses a wide range of case studies from all types of sources to illustrate how projected gains in tourism, job creation, and infrastructure development rarely materialize as promised. Instead, these events, in addition to "scaring away" many tourists due to increased prices before, during, and immediately after the event, often leave a trail of debt and underutilized facilities.
This researcher's analysis also addresses the social and environmental costs of hosting these events. Large-scale construction projects often lead to various forms of displacement of local communities (in some cases, literally) and environmental degradation. For its part, social disruption and the increased cost of living can have lasting negative effects on the residents of the host city.
Studies indicate that major sporting events often leave a trail of debt and underutilized facilitiesBut Zimbalist also suggests alternatives and reforms to the current system. He advocates for a more sustainable and equitable approach to hosting mega-events. One suggestion is to have a permanent host city for the Olympic Games to avoid the recurring costs and disruptions associated with the bidding process and event preparations.The author also calls for greater transparency and accountability from the IOC and FIFA to ensure that the interests of the local population are prioritized.
Some progress has been made in this regard. Thus, the IOC approved Olympic Agenda 2020 (updated today as Olympic Agenda 2020+5), which, among other issues, explicitly states that the Games must adapt to the existing infrastructure of the host cities and their long-term needs, demanding that the use of existing infrastructure be maximized and their environmental footprint minimized.
But, is this more sustainable and equitable approach advocated by Zimbalist possible? Assuming that Olympics, world championships, major cycling tours, and sailing regattas will continue to be held, how can it be ensured that such an event provides the organizing city with a clearly positive balance?
The OECD, an economic cooperation organization that includes 38 countries considered "market democracies," has recognized, based on its own studies, the weak balance uncovered by Circus Maximus, but continues to claim the importance that mega-events can play in boosting a city. In this sense, it has developed recommendations and even a guide to maximize the impact of major events, both sporting and cultural and business (congresses).
Some of the recommendations are:
- Strengthen the attractiveness and access to sports professions and promote the development of specific professional competencies.
- Create pathways to employment generated by the event for young people, women, long-term unemployed people, and other disadvantaged groups.
- Help SMEs and social economy enterprises access tenders related to the organization of events.
- Generally promote cultural participation or the practice of sport and physical activity, as well as promote social inclusion through sport and culture.
- Strengthen the capacities of local sports and cultural organizations.
Paris 2024 also has a climate agenda (it is no coincidence that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is still in force) with a commitment to halve carbon emissions compared to previous editions, covering everything from construction to energy and transport, catering and other services.
At the Paris Olympic Games, in terms of facilities, 95% of the installations already existed or will be temporary structures that can be dismantled for future reuseIn socioeconomic matters, an agreement was reached in 2019 for the first time in Olympism for a Social Charter, signed by unions and business organizations, in which 16 commitments focused ondecent working conditions, social inclusion and guaranteed access for small and medium-sized enterprises to contracts. In this way, close to 90% of the Games' suppliers are French, while 78% of them are small and medium-sized companies, with more than500 local social and solidarity economy companies.
Finally, the promotion of sport as a vehicle for better health and quality of life for everyone has resulted in the establishment of a 30-minute daily exercise period in more than 36,000 French primary schools and the construction of 5,000 public sports fields in towns, cities, and neighborhoods across the country.
Nearly 90% of the suppliers for the 2024 Games are French, while 78% of them are small and medium-sized enterprises.In short, as highlighted in a recent debate promoted by the Fundació Catalunya-Europa and the Centre for International Historical Studies of the University of Barcelona (UB), sporting events (not only those of the highest magnitude), due to their extensive media coverage,continue to be relevant when it comes to "putting cities on the map" and that is something that in a global economy context is interesting even for medium and small cities
However, to truly benefit and achieve a positive impact, effective public leadership of the process is essential, incorporating the private sector and citizen participation, as well as addressing criteria of sustainability and equity and the contribution of public value. Something that, as highlighted on several occasions in this debate, was promoted in Barcelona with the elaboration of the Economic and Social Strategic Plan which, approved in 1990, outlined what the legacy of the 1992 Games should be for the city, initiating a new way of approaching the role of events in urban development that, however, ended up being distorted.
Paris 2024, in this sense, can mark a new "before and after" in terms of the impact of the Olympic Games (and, by extension, of major events) on the host city. Let's hope so for the good of sport, of cities… and of the people who live in them.
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