The memory of mega-events as an instrument of urban planning?[La mémoire des méga-événements comme instrument de la planification urbaine ?]

From a geography of memory, I approach urban planning strategies in relation to the organization, holding and assessment of mega-events. Their memory, remembrance and manipulation by local elites are part of a long-term urban policy to sometimes justify risky or judicious choices. I arrive at three corollary results on the form, substance and function of mega-events based on archival research, a field investigation on the Olympic sites in Barcelona and a renewed literature review on the subject: a complementarity between the Olympic Games and the Universal Exhibitions Expositions (World's fair - world expo) is observed with the importance of the urban palimpsest functioning as an integrating system, a collective memory of mega-events remains significant thanks to mass and niche tourism, the qualities of the ephemerality of the manifestation is felt in the material and immaterial production forging a collective memory.