Abstract

Creating lasting and sustainable (positive) legacies for the host city has become an increasingly important aspect for any city intending to host the Olympic Games, especially since positive legacies have been included as one of the core aims of the Olympic Movement, enshrined in the Olympic Charter. However, even though there is now usually a general desire to create positive legacies, the actual legacy outcomes after the games vary widely.
Olympic Games have undoubtedly a huge impact on urban development, e.g. by resulting in new or improved transport infrastructure (Kassens, 2009; Kassens-Noor, 2012) and sport facilities. However, not only the impact is significant. So are the necessary investments (Preuss 2002, 2004, 2007). It is hence no surprise, that many host cities try to develop holistic planning strategies to capture some of the value created through the hosting of the Olympic Games.
At the heart of many Olympic Games (e.g. Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Sydney 2000, London 2012) has been the Olympic Park with varied sporting facilities and the Olympic Village. It was and still is (Rio 2016) the place, where Olympism and Olympic values will actually be lived and experienced during the Games.
However, the integration of such an enormous area packed with sporting facilities fulfilling the highest standards and with an Olympic village that has to provide a temporary home to tens of thousands of athletes for a few weeks into long-term urban development plans often poses real challenges for urban planners. Barcelona has acquired the status of role model for the creation of positive (urban) legacies and is often seen as the starting point of the contemporary “legacy movement”. Yet, we content that other Olympic cities might also provide us with useful insights even though their urban development plans might not have been labelled as “legacy plans” at the time.
Since creating lasting legacies has become essential for host cities, a growing body of research and literature has evolved. Studies of Olympic legacies suffer, however, a strong bias in favour of a handful of case studies. These have acquired the status of “role model” or blueprint for future applicants. The most common example is Barcelona 1992, known as first legacy games and a role model for urban regeneration (Marshall 2004). Our comparative study shifts the focus away from these standard examples towards Munich 1972 and London 2012. Munich’s Olympic Park and Olympic village(s) still being in use 40 years after their creation, demonstrates a form of positive long-term legacy. It will be instructive to investigate its success factors.