Mega-events and placemaking: Place image construction between reality and imagination

Abstract

Mega-events are considered as one of the anchors of the consumption-based development that plays a significant role in the contemporary production of urbanity. They are complex and transformative undertakings that inevitably create an impact of great magnitude, mass popular appeal and international significance. This chapter explores mega-event phenomena in different national and geopolitical contexts through which cities are increasingly formed and compares emerging practices on making and selling of post-event places of host cities whose legacy is still unfolding. It aims to bring together different perspectives of the placemaking process using comparative study analysis of four distinct cities: Sarajevo in the context of the 1984 Winter Olympics; Athens in the context of the Summer Olympics of 1896 and 2004; Istanbul in the context of Formula 1 along with cultural events such as biennales and art fairs; and Dubrovnik in the context of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. What kind of places did events produce? How did event-led urban conditions merge under the radar of official planning guidelines in Sarajevo, Athens, Istanbul and Dubrovnik? What determines the capacity of cities to capitalize under the cover of an event? Both Sarajevo and Athens have undergone distinctive historical pathways in the post-Olympic period which help to understand how far these cities' strategies have addressed the need to leverage legacies and to turn towards the new urban economies. The Dubrovnik and Istanbul cases embrace the cultural events for urban image production, highlighting the long-term significance of events for public spaces for subsequent events where unprescribed interaction could lead to innovation and creativity. On the one hand, the chapter contends that the mega-events are powerful mechanisms that re-prioritize urban agendas, foster urban redevelopment and are instruments for reinventing cities and promoting economic growth. On the other hand, the research on the mega-event-based urban imaginaries reveals contradictions and tensions between two distinct urban realities, the actual reality of the city in the post-event era followed by uncertainty and anticipation, and the constructed (mediated) reality built on the utopian vision that is in most cases far from being a reflection of urban, social and cultural identities. © Erna Husukić et al., 2024. All rights reserved.