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Mechanisms of policy failure: Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Kassens-Noor

    (Michigan State University, USA)

  • John Lauermann

    (City University of New York, USA)

Abstract

Planning for mega-events such as the Olympics is at a turning point. There has been a power shift in the relationship between cities and the International Olympic Committee towards the former. This shift is based on the emergence of anti-bid opposition movements; the increasing complexity of bidding; demands for locally relevant legacies; and a changing political economic relationship between citizens, city governments and sports federations. Our paper draws on a long-term study of Boston’s failed bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, based on an ethnography within the bidding corporation and interviews with pro- and anti-bid stakeholders. We lay out the reasons why the Boston bid failed, and conclude that bid failure involves factors that work against elitist powers and towards democratic beneficiaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Kassens-Noor & John Lauermann, 2018. "Mechanisms of policy failure: Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(15), pages 3369-3384, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:55:y:2018:i:15:p:3369-3384
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098017740286
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva Kassens-Noor, 2016. "From Ephemeral Planning to Permanent Urbanism: An Urban Planning Theory of Mega-Events," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 41-54.
    2. Alan Tomlinson, 2014. "Olympic legacies: recurrent rhetoric and harsh realities," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 137-158, June.
    3. Harry H. Hiller, 2000. "Mega‐events, Urban Boosterism and Growth Strategies: An Analysis of the Objectives and Legitimations of the Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 449-458, June.
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    5. Robert A. Baade & Victor A. Matheson, 2016. "Going for the Gold: The Economics of the Olympics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 201-218, Spring.
    6. Wolfgang Maennig & Andrew Zimbalist (ed.), 2012. "International Handbook on the Economics of Mega Sporting Events," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14313.
    7. Heike C. Alberts, 2009. "Berlin's Failed Bid to Host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games: Urban Development and the Improvement of Sports Facilities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 502-516, June.
    8. Holger Preuss, 2004. "The Economics of Staging the Olympics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3473.
    9. Arne Feddersen & Wolfgang Maennig & Philipp Zimmermann, 2008. "The empirics of key factors in the success of bids for olympic games," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 118(2), pages 171-187.
    10. Bent Flyvbjerg & Allison Stewart & Alexander Budzier, 2016. "The Oxford Olympics Study 2016: Cost and Cost Overrun at the Games," Papers 1607.04484, arXiv.org.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kassens-Noor, Eva, 2019. "Transportation planning and policy in the pursuit of mega-events: Boston's 2024 Olympic bid," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 239-245.

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