Games and the City: Impacts and Legacies in the Urban Environment Conference 2011

Thursday 2 June 2011 - 9:00
University of Greenwich, Greenwich Campus, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, London SE10 9LS

Two day conference - Thursday 2 and Friday 3 June 2011.

As cities compete for jobs and capital in the context of decreasing government aid and increasing global economic competition, a new and potentially risky strategy for economic growth has emerged: the quest for high-profile events to serve as a stimulus to, and justification for, local, regional and national development.

The Olympic Games are the global mega-event par excellence. Mega-events have been used to promote social objectives and to achieve improvements in infrastructure. The Games have the potential to transform, literally and metaphorically, the urban landscape and citizens within it. Understanding the genuine impacts of cities bidding for and hosting the Olympic Games means engaging in an ongoing debate over meaning, perspective and interpretation, in which claims and counter-claims must be critically and rigorously evaluated.

For registration information please see: www.gre.ac.uk/bus/events/olympic

Speakers programme:

  • Graham Fane, Dean of Business, Capilano University, Vancouver "A Living Laboratory": The story of how post-secondary institutions in British Columbia connected students with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
  • Pete Fussey, University of Essex Securing the Olympic City: Regenerating, Reinforcing and Reconfiguring London for 2012
  • Sara Calvo, Middlesex University Are ethnic minority organisations involved within the 2012 Games? A case study of the East London Olympic Boroughs
  • Professor Gavin Poynter and Iain Macrury, University of East London Mega-events, legacy and the 'convergence' argument: Social policy interventions in London and Rio de Janeiro
  • Employment Impacts and Legacies Short presentations from Tracie Carlsund (Director of Staffing, JetSet Sports,), Rosa D'Allessandro (Head of Corporate Responsibility, AEG O2 Arena, London)Claire Smith (Recruitment Business Partner, Human Resources, LOCOG)
  • Marianne Laws, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, UK Meta-Evaluation of the Impacts and Legacy Of The London 2012 Olympic Games And Paralympic Games
  • Anaïs Jeanson, Paris School of Urban Engineering A comparative analysis of the Olympics of London 2012, Beijing 2008 and Barcelona 1992 based on the study of urban planning strategies
  • Noha Nasser, Urban Renaissance Institute, University of Greenwich Theatricality and the Adorning of the City for the 2012 Games: The case of the Royal Borough of Greenwich
  • Francesca Weber-Newth, University of Aberdeen The Sacred and the Profane: Durkheim in 'legacy'
  • Olesya Nedvetskaya, University of Glasgow The social impact of large scale sport events on socially excluded groups
  • Matthew Cowell, University of Greenwich How does venue selection and venue location affect Olympic Legacy?
  • Eleni Theodoraki, Edinburgh Napier University Examining policy transfer: the case of sustainability and the London 2012 Olympic Games
  • Özlem Edizel, London Metropolitan University Sustainable Urban Development and 2012 London Olympic Games

Contact: Peter Vlachos, Principal Lecturer, Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism Business School, University of Greenwich

Email: vp11@gre.ac.uk