Mega Events Impact On Community: Positive Or Negative?

Mega events and their impact

Describe about Mega Events impact the community more negatively than positively?

The event can be described as a planned occasion or activity that involves the participation of the individuals or group of individuals for their personal enjoyment, corporate goals, or other benefits. In the present times, events seem to be very popular and common. Events are seen to be happening very often all over the world as the individuals emphasize on their leisure activities, celebration, public events, education, as well as, source of entertainment. Moreover, the events are also organized to the point of marketing strategy, as well as, for business purposes like trade fairs, promotions, and to produce lounge. There are various types of events, which can be classified on the basis of their scale and size like Mega Events, Cultural Events, Hallmark Events, and Business Events. Mega events are those events, which affects the whole economies and possess reverberations in the global media attention (Jarman and Theodoraki, 2012). The overall impact of the mega events is a debatable topic and “Do Mega Events impact the community more negatively than positively” is still a matter of debate. Hence, in this article we will discuss the reasons that how mega events affect the community more positively than negatively and will provide evidence in support of the statement with suitable reasons and examples.

According to Bladen (2012), mega-events are those events that occur for the global media audience, as well as, possess long-term, significant impacts on the societies and their overall economies like Olympic games, political summits, and FIFA world cup (Wood, 2013). There has been a substantial debate that mega events have more negative effects on the community and its people as compared to the positive effects. However, I don’t support this statement and believes that the overall effects of the mega events in the community is more positive instead of negative outcomes.  Mega events are the events that attain the attention of the audience worldwide and is a way of bringing different individuals together in the more social way that have a huge social, as well as, economic effects on the overall economy of the hosting city and its local communities  (Wood, 2005). Mega-events also play a positive role in the promotion of the events industry as they bring different people from all over the world together via memorable, as well as, enjoyable event, which brings more revenue and increases the economy of the country where the event is organized. Moreover, the organization of the mega event shoots the host country or city into the limelight, which results in the economic windfall, as well as, provide the host cities the impetus and opportunity for the improvement of the domestic facilities and its infrastructure (Daniels, Norman and Henry, 2004).

Negative impacts of mega events

Though mega events provide a great opportunity for the host city and has a positive effect on the community, there are some negative impacts too. Mega events affect the community negatively as it leads to the shutdown of local amenities, involves event-associated construction work, as well as, causes the interruption of the public transport. No doubt, these are the negative effects produced by the mega events, but these negative effects are temporary in nature when compared to the positive effects they have on the community. These mega events are the catalyst, which leads to the new development, as well as, urban regeneration. These events help in the generation of the new business, provide better employment opportunities, and generate increased demand for public transport and services (Evaluating Benefits of Sport Mega-Events on the Host Cities: Effects of the 34th America’s Cup on Naples, 2012). For instance, if we talk about the The Case of Rio's Carnival, it is an event, which brings a great number of outsiders to the city. About more than 300,000 tourists were estimated to have participated in this event that corresponds to about 1/6 of the total tourists every year. As a result, the occupancy rates increase enormously in the hotels with about 90%, resulting in the huge positive effects on the overall economy of the host city. Moreover, as per the Rio Tourist Agency (RIOTUR), it is estimated that about 1600 new and temporary jobs are associated with the Carnival party, which leads to the movement of about 200 million dollars in Rio’s state with only 50% expenditure in the city (Maiello and Pasquinelli, 2015). Hence, no doubt if they are producing temporary negative impacts, but the positive impacts and opportunities provided during this time is more.

According to some authors the hosting of mega events like Olympic games has some lines of criticism like these events bring only short-term new job opportunities, money expenditure on the Olympics could have been used in some more meaningful events, and often leads to the dislocation of the people in the community along with huge expenditure on the infrastructure. However, these statements cannot be justified completely as mega-events like Olympic games can revitalize neighborhoods, as well as, build civic pride of the city. These are the events that are broadcasted globally and are watched by several people worldwide. Hence, by hosting mega-events, the cities achieve international coverage. In other words, mega-events are the branding exercise (Bailey, 2012). No matter that the mega events do require a lot of expenditure and funding, but mega-events attract the tourists from all over the world  who invest to be the participant or visitor of these events that in turn increases the economy.

Positive impacts of mega events

Though the jobs offered by these mega events are for temporary basis, but these events have a permanent and long-term impact on the lives of the local residents. For instance, after the Barcelona Olympic Games, a substantial increase in the overall participation of the people of the community was observed in the active sports. About 50,000 new customers were estimated in the sports centers of the city with an increase in the participation in sports activities from 35% in the year of 1989 to about 45% in the year of 1995. Moreover, in the year 1994, around 3,00,000 people were estimated to be participants in the sports events, which then became the part of the people of urban population living in Barcelona, like athletic competitions, bicycle cycling festival, popular marathon, and a festival of roller skating (De Haan and Johnson, 2010). Hence, it justifies that these Olympic mega events can make an important and permanent role towards the quality of living of the local residents of the community. Thus, mega events lay a positive effect on the community, which are more as compared to the negative impacts. Hence, to say that these events impact the community more negatively than positively is not right and is not justifiable.

Conclusion

In the last few decades, mega events are found to be more than just celebrations of culture and sport. Cities, as well as, states involved in the staging of the international events or mega events view them to be an important part contributing to their economic development strategy. Moreover, these events are found to involve the renewal of the real estate investment, as well as, the urban infrastructure (Gammon, 2010). However, there are various negative impacts that could occur due to the hosting of a mega event like traffic congestion, noise, construction, dislocation of the residents, but these impacts are temporary and can be overcome with special precautions and well-designed layouts. For instance, in 1999 the International Olympic Committee acquired the Olympic Movement Agenda 21, i.e., Sport for Sustainable Development. This agenda aims at combating social exclusion, as well as, promotes the sports infrastructure that is better suited to all the social needs (Spaaij, 2012). In regards to the dislocation of the people at the time of the mega event, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority acquired the Protocol for Homeless People in Public Places in the year of 2000 at the time of the games. This  protocol was adopted for ensuring that homeless people receive the appropriate services on the basis of their need and requirements (Madden, 2002). The negative impacts of the mega events depend upon the hosting body and can be minimized if suitable measures are taken. For instance, provision of the compensation to the local residents at the time of their dislocation and working in collaboration with the residents during the hosting of the mega events can help in reducing the negative impacts.

References

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