A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development of the 21st Century

Mega-events as Catalysts for Urban TransformationThese criteria point out one of the fundamental differences between Olympics and Expos interms of organization requirements. Although they both have the greatest scope in terms ofdiversity and levels of participation, they differ in the degree of complexity linked to thedesign and implementation level.In the case of Olympics and other sporting events, there is a much higher degree ofstandardization based on the technical requirements for each sport venue. However, inrelation to the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics are much broader as they continue to introducenew types of sports and they involve events and infrastructures that relate to the cultural andenvironmental dimensions of the city. Because of the well-tested venue organization, theOlympic organizers can rely on a significant set of core specifications already available tothem that will greatly support the organization and operations phase.Each Expo has a new theme requiring a greater level of diversity in the content and theinfrastructure. Although there are core specifications available to the organizers these aremore limited, thus requiring a greater degree of internal coordination and entrepreneurialcreativity from the organizer.Looking at a different type of mega-event, i.e., international conferences, there will be astrong focus on operational capacity, relevance of the host city and security requirements.While there is a major difference between different types of events, international bodies havealso allowed for events of different size to accommodate the needs of different cities. Forinstance, the BIE distinguishes between World and International Expos 11 and the IOCbetween Summer and Winter Olympics. 12 In both cases the level of international participants(exhibitions or athletes), the number of visitors and public and the amount of investmentsdiffer very significantly.The second distinction between mega-events is in the form of outreach to the general public.Expos and European Capitals of Culture, for instance, rely on public visitors to the site and tothe city. Sporting events, although they attract a large attendance to the venues, rely more onmedia and global television viewers. This distinction is connected with the nature of thevenues and offerings which lend themselves more naturally to different types of presentationand communication. These will ultimately determine the success criteria.11 The terms “World Expo” and “International Expo” are used for general communication; “InternationalRegistered Exhibition” and “International Recognized Exhibition” are the corresponding ones from BIERegulations.12 The terms Summer and Winter Games are part of common usage. However, the Olympic Charter states that“The Olympic Games consist of the Games of the Olympiad and the Olympic Winter Games”.16