Mega-events, globalisation and urban legacy

This chapter explores globalisation's world-regionality dynamic and its implications for mega-events. It discusses the role of mega-events such as the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the Shanghai 2010 Expo and their legacies in China's contemporary development, both at the national level and also particularly at the urban level. China's rapid economic growth and urbanisation in the post-Deng period generated an unprecedented interest among Chinese urban leaderships in strategies of bidding for and staging mega-events. The design of the 2010 Shanghai Expo reflected a number of the macro factors and structural themes relating to contemporary China and to mega-events, as well as more local and urban issues relating to Shanghai city. The chapter also discusses the influence of mega-events on the development of London as a world city, and looks in particular at the London 2012 Olympic Games and its urban legacies.