MEGA-EVENTS, URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND PUBLIC POLICY 179 Matthew J. Burbank University of Utah Greg Andranovich California State University, Los Angeles Charles H. Heying Portland State University180 ‘The Review of Policy Research, Fall 2002 19:3 ABSTRACT As cities compete for jobs and capital in the context of limited federal aid and increasing global economic competition, a new and potentially high-risk policy strategy for stimulating local economic growth has emerged. This mega- event strategy entails the quest for a high-profile event to serve as a stimulus to, and justification for, local development. How and why do American cities commit their resources to seeking a mega-event? And, ifa city lands a mega- event, how does that event affect local development policy? To address these questions, we examine the experiences of three American cities which have bid for and organized the Olympics in the contemporary era: Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City. | ee development policy for American cities has traditionally relied on the use of tax incentives or infrastructure investments to lure new businesses or encourage the expansion of existing ones. Changes in the political and economic environment of contemporary American cities in recent decades, however, have led to new public policy strategies for seeking urban growth. In particular, many cities have come to emphasize policies that promote urban tourism (Eisinger, 2000; Gladstone, 1998; Judd & Fainstein, 1999), These policies typically include the development of convention centers, large hotels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, and shopping malls. The similarity of such development projects, however, means that cities must rely on place marketing to project a unique image that will bring visitors and investors to their city (Holeomb, 1999; Law, 1993; Paddison, 1993). We examine one manifestation of the competition for urban tourism and the use of place marketing, the hosting of an urban mega-event. Mega-events are large-scale undertakings, such as an Olympic games or a world’s fair, intended to spur local economic development by attracting tourists and media recognition for the host city. Pursuing a mega-event is a risky policy, however, because it requires a substantial outlay of resources merely to compete, the probability of getting the mega-event is not high, and the potential benefit to the city may be largely intangible. Why, then, do cities pursue mega-events and how do these events influence local development policy? We seek answers to these questions by examining three American cities, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City, that have bid for and organized a modern urban mega-event, the Olympic games.Burbank: Mega-events, Urban Development, and Public Policy MEGA-EVENTS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Seeking out large-scale events, such as an Olympics or a world’s fair, has become part of a deliberate policy strategy for promoting local economic growth by some American cities. Hosting a premier event is desirable as a growth promotion strategy because city leaders can claim credit for generating revenue from tourism, enhancing the city’s image, and perhaps even reshaping the city’s physical structure (e.g., Essex & Chalkley, 1998; Hall, 1996; Paddison, 1993). Despite the enormous amount of attention and controversy that accompany a mega-event, little concern has been paid to the potential consequences of this policy for the host cities. Policy debates over the pursuit of a mega-event tend to focus on its economic impact -- the cost of a stadium, the value of a new hotel, or the tax revenues generated -- but rarely on the broader political and social ramifications (Roche, 1992). The Rise of the Mega-event Strategy The desire to stage a mega-event is not entirely novel. Cities have used events to attract attention for a long time. Still, the rise of the mega-event strategy can be seen as a response to a particular set of political and economic circumstances. Central to the emergence of the contemporary mega-event strategy were two fundamental changes affecting American cities: (1) the growth of the global economy, and (2) changes in federal urban policy. In the 1980s and 1990s, political, economic, and technological developments meant that the global economy had at last become an important feature of the environment within which cities compete for economic growth (Fry, 1995; Knight, 1989). As trade in goods and services became increasingly open and internationally competitive, American cities had to compete with cities from around the world for investment capital, busin , and tourists. The impact of global competition has been most apparent at the top of the urban hierarchy, where cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo have become “global” or “world” cities (Sassen, 1991; Friedmann, 1995). According to the world cities thesis, the rise of a global economy is driving cities to find an economic niche within the regional or world economy. “World cities articulate regional, national, and international economies into a global economy. They serve as the organizing nodes of a global economic system” (Friedmann, 1995, p. 25). The concept of a world 181