EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Local Development Benefits from Staging Global Events

Local Development Benefits from Staging Global Events

Introduction

The competition to stage major global events – such as Olympic Games, EXPOs, cultural festivals, and political summits – is more intense than ever before. Despite advances in virtual communication, large-scale gatherings of this kind have again become extraordinarily popular. In part, this can be explained by the worldwide media attention and sponsorship that such events now generate. But it is also substantially accounted for by the longer-term local benefits that can be achieved for the host location, including: improved infrastructure, increased revenues from tourism and trade, employment creation and heightened civic pride.

Description

This book identifies how staging international events works as a trigger for local development, and what hosting cities and nations can do to ensure that a positive local legacy and wider benefits are realised. It reviews experience from more than 30 cities/nations and it looks forwards to future events yet to be hosted. Staging international events works as a catalyst for local development, but hosting cities and nations have to take precise and dedicated steps to to ensure that a positive local legacy is realised. Whilst the hosting of major international events can be seen as an end in itself, it is also an unrivalled opportunity to get other things done by a city or a nation - it is not a reason for putting them off.

Conclusions

Primary benefits:

Alignment of the event with sector and business growth strategies in the city or nation;
private-public investment partnerships;
image and identity impacts attracting increased population, investment or trade;
structural expansion of visitor economy and supply chain development and expansion;
environmental impacts, both in built and natural environments.

Secondary benefits:

Post event usages of improved land and buildings;
connectivity and infrastructure legacies;
labour market impacts and social/economic inclusion;
secondary impacts in the property market;
global positioning, events strategy going forwards, and project management capability.

Who has benefited:

Trade fairs and exhibition events (e.g. EXPO and others)
Cultural events (e.g. European Capital of Culture)
Sports events (e.g. Olympics)
Political summits and conference events (e.g. G8, Earth Summits).

Contact info

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
2, rue André Pascal
F-75775 Paris Cedex 16
France
Phone: +33 1.45.24.82.00
Fax: +33 1.45.24.85.00
www.oecd.org
Ms. Debra Mountford

Publication date

/04/2008

Researcher

Greg Clark

Article info
ISBN: 978-92-64-04206-3

Links

Click here to visit the OECD website and buy the book

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords