Why not all mega-events are the same, a study of the 2015 World Cycling Championship in Richmond, Virginia, U.S

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Date
2016
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AESOP
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Mega-events’ allure has waned considerably over the years. Many cities still bid and compete quite fiercely for the chance to host a myriad of different events. However bidding and pre-event planning is increasingly seen as an opportunity to locate, create and develop support for projects, which will remain useful after the event is over, or which will need to be built in spite of the bid’s result. Prior research on mega-events has tended to focus on the reasons invoked by a particular city to host the event, the planning and preparation works, the intense period of activities, and then a relatively immediate post-event assessment. I hypothesize that it is important to learn from less well researched mega-events in order to demonstrate that certain types, such as the World Cycling Championship, are not as costly for the host city as the most extensively researched mega-events, typically the Olympic Games, World’s Fairs, and World Soccer Championships. The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the 2015 World Cycling Championship in Richmond, Virginia. There is relatively little research on the socio-economic and territorial impacts of this type of mega-event. One of the important differences between ‘place-based’ and ‘street-based’ mega-events is that the latter tends to be less capital-intensive and perhaps slightly more disruptive city-wide than the former, which is restricted mostly to a specific area. The research methods have included in situ observations, interviews and meetings with elements of the organization, planners, residents and business owners during and after the realization of the championship in summer and fall 2015. The anticipated findings are likely to elucidate how the city of Richmond utilized the mega-event to increase everyone’s awareness of cycling as a competitive sport and also as a worthwhile everyday mode of transportation.
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Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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