Will Rio be the next Athens or Atlanta?

In the wake of the fanfare accompanying the announcement of Rio De Janeiro's successful 2016 Olympic bid, I found myself in Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. Originally set aside by the city as parkland in 1868, Balboa Park (below) is filled with dramatic architecture, beautiful gardens, and multiple cultural institutions (the world-renowned zoo among the most famous), many of which are the legacies of mega-events of yesteryear - the 1915-1916 Panama California Exposition and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition. A 2001 study showed that, excluding the zoo, the park still draws 1.8 million tourists each year and adds $235 million to the local economy.

How successful have more recent mega-events like the Olympics been in creating a positive legacy for the host city? That depends on whom you ask and, of course, what your expectations are. Numerous studies and popular media articles have explored mega-events' impacts with conclusions running the gamut from hugely positive to downright harmful to no discernable legacy at all.

Athens, host to the 2004 Olympics, is considered a case study of a city that was unsuccessful in using the games to boost local infrastructure and create facilities to be repurposed, the result of rushed and poor planning according to many observers. No public parks were created, and sports facilities sit dormant. In fact 21 of 22 facilities remain unused since the closing ceremonies.

Atlanta, on the other hand, was able to create a positive legacy from the games. Arguably, no event the size and significance of the Olympics can be staged without garnering criticism. People were displaced and neighborhoods altered, whether they liked it or not. Still, the city was able to bring life to downtown through the vibrant Centennial Olympic Park, and the Olympic Stadium was transformed into a new home for the Atlanta Braves (who were considering a move to a suburban location). Georgia State, formerly a commuter school, and Georgia Tech - both public universities - gained more than 6,000 dorm rooms from former Olympic housing as well as a foundation for high quality recreation centers. And then there is the less tangible, but very real civic pride and valuable international exposure that comes with hosting such an event.

Rio's Olympic legacy will no doubt be as complex and multilayered as those that came before. Will the games be used to to develop infrastructure and facilities with broad, long-lasting benefits? As past games have shown, this is a challenge in any environment, but Brazil's extreme wealth disparity will make this goal more difficult. Still, policy wonks and planners of all stripes will be waiting to see what its legacy will be, and perhaps more importantly, how it's interpreted by generations to come.

--Jen Egmont, Project Manager