A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development of the 21st Century

Mega-events as Catalysts for Urban Transformationstudy of 196 countries’ economic performance between 1950 and 2006 found that the“Olympic effect” derives from host countries signaling their intention of moving toward amore open trade policy. Since 1984 there is strong evidence to suggest that the Olympics canhave a major impact on the GDP of the host country. Also, calling Expo Shanghai 2010 the“Economic Olympics” was not simply a tongue and cheek expression, but a meaningfulreference to an endeavor that would accelerate infrastructure development and economicgrowth of the city by decades.Economic benefits include:NEW INVESTMENTS New injection of national and international investments New public-private partnerships in investmentNEW BUSINESS Repositioning of existing industries Development and launch of new business sectors New opportunities from face to face international business meetingsconnected to participants, sponsors and suppliersNEW REVENUE Additional tax revenue for the city: national tax revenues that comeback to the city Higher-value real estate and new business and/or residential districtsNEW TALENT Additional employment options New training opportunities in different domains that help develophuman capital and foster a new professional cultures at all levels ofsociety through the experience of working within an international event Development of new entrepreneurial skills in city managementThe organizational experience and the generation of new talent generally enable the cityhosting the event to support other cities within the country in the bidding for future events, bethey national or international. Often the successful hosting of an event is the beginning of aprocess of regular bidding on other mega-events: it helps maximize the investments alreadymade, and leverage the international credibility at the national level that other cities canbenefit from.2.1.2 Infrastructure and service improvementUrban leaders understand that effective management is crucial to the successful implementationof an urban development plan. As mayor, one of your first steps might be to assess if themanagement systems currently in place are adequate for implementing, monitoring andevaluating the implementation of the plan and the provision of related public services.Chapter 2 -- Delivering Effective Urban Management: Planning for the Future6