Sustainable Olympic development: A proposed benchmark for managing economic outcomes

No other sporting event possesses the grandeur of the Olympics,and few other development projects demonstrate the lack of costcontainment as the Olympics which leaves local residents payingthe debt and maintenance of a venue they may never use.Legacy planning is an important consideration for the hosting ofthe Olympics, but one that does not always receive adequateconsideration resulting in the “white elephant phenomenon.” Thisstudy therefore looked to analyze the cost of hosting theOlympics compared to the economic activity in the host community in order to better inform public policy on the issues of sustainability and legacy, in particular. We are proposing a metricthat helps to measure the costs that Olympic hosting has on thehost community and provide a benchmark for containing thosecosts in terms of budgeting, construction and legacy planning forthe Games. Consequently, the IOC can institute policy changes forproject management that assist host cities in establishing abudget cap for venue development while simultaneously seekingto reduce the crippling debt that has accompanied them in thepast.