This article was written by Natasha Chisholm and Grace Adcox.
Ekecheiria — the ‘Olympic Truce’ — emerged shortly after the earliest Olympic Games. This truce protected athletes, artists, and pilgrims alike who wished to attend the games. Through the truce of protection, individuals from distinct communities came together to enjoy competition and share ideas. Economic and cultural activity flourished in the period leading up to, during, and even after the end of the games.
Modern Olympic Games still respect the spirit of Ekecheiria in some ways, with the Olympics serving as an important platform to call for an end to violent conflict and promote other important causes on the international stage. However, the main goal of the original Olympic Truce, and of the games themselves, has shifted in the modern era. Rather than serving as a place of community-building, modern host cities of the Olympics face accusations of destroying existing communities in favor of achieving international prestige.
From the relocation of current residents, to the consumption of natural resources — how do the Olympic Games alter the composition of communities in host cities and countries?
Olympic Hosting with Consequences of Olympic Proportion
The Olympics create a considerable burden for hosting communities. Throughout the modern Olympics, these costs have only grown to accommodate the ever-growing spectacle of the games.
Lower income residents bear the brunt of these costs. To make way for the 2012 Olympics, authorities tore down Clays Lane, a low-income housing development in London. Just four years later, residents of Vila Autódromo, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, protested against their community’s complete destruction to create arenas for the 2016 Olympics.
Hosting the Olympics also affects the business environment within local communities. Tokyo faced the closure of many small businesses, increased policing in its parks and public areas, and steep rises in rent and property value in the lead up to hosting the 2020/2021 Olympics. These consequences are almost unavoidable common for host cities, and often create gentrification pressures in the long-term.
However, the Olympics also offer some benefits to their host cities. Many of these center around economic development, such as through an increase in tourism and job creation. Infrastructure developed for the games also can provide a community-wide benefit in the long-term. Outside of material gains for host cities, the games also notably contribute to a bolstering of national pride.
Weighing the Effects of Hosting in Beijing
What do the effects of hosting look like for Beijing 2022?
This year critics have raised concerns about the environmental impact of the games. Constructing winter event venues in a region with moderate temperatures and limited rainfall requires high levels of water and electricity consumption. Byproducts of this construction include dangerously high levels of air pollution, threatening the health of community residents.
COVID-19 also continues to pose challenges for public health, with the games offering China’s greatest obstacle to its coronavirus response. China’s strict lockdown policies appear to have been largely successful, with the country reporting far fewer cases and deaths than countries with comparable population sizes and levels of development. However, the Olympic Games threaten this success. China implemented multiple zero-tolerance lockdowns in advance of the Olympic Games, disrupting the lives of millions of citizens, yet still saw a rise in cases over the course of the competition.
At an individual level, the local residents whose lives were disrupted by the preparations for the Olympic Games will not be able to spectate, with the 2022 Beijing organizing community electing instead to “invite groups of spectators to attend the games in person.” This move will likely prevent all but wealthy and well-connected residents of Beijing from having the opportunity to enjoy the competition. Residents of Beijing will also face economic pressures as a direct result of the Olympics, including upward shifts in rental prices, the closure of local businesses, and an abundance of short-term jobs that disappear after the games.
Host Communities in the Olympic Economy
Economic pressures tied to hosting the Olympics arguably create the greatest long-term impact on local communities.
The economic impact of the Olympics starts at the bidding process, where countries are required to wager the amount of money they have available to host the games. Millions of dollars are bid, and competitors lose money from preparing expensive bids if they are not selected to host by the Olympic Committee. Tokyo, for example, wagered $150 million to host the 2016 Olympics, losing to Rio de Janeiro. A large bid proves to the Olympic community that the potential host can account for costs like expanding transportation, constructing athletic housing, event-specific venues, and more – which can cost between $5 billion to over $50 billion.
Why do countries still submit bids knowing they could lose millions of dollars? It is a risk they are willing to take. The Olympics carry prestige, and which can generate a more positive image for the country and greater international interest. Tourism leads to trade, foreign investment, and greater demand for labor, which can change the entire host economy. Barcelona is one such example of a host which reaped these benefits, rising in the ranks as a popular European destination after hosting in 1992.
However, even with these seemingly plentiful benefits, evidence shows the costs outweigh the returns. Revenue garnered by host countries only covers some expenses, and most of the profits belong to international companies and sponsors. Overspending on the projected bid is exceedingly common, with the Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics costing more than four times the initial projected budget. These tremendous costs impact taxpayers and often contribute to increased national debt.
The most famous example is the Olympic games in Athens in 2004, which is cited for triggering Greece’s debt crisis. Unused and abandoned infrastructure — called ‘white elephants’ — are another drain on the economy. These nearly new facilities fall into disrepair because there is no economically viable way to use them. These costs can significantly disrupt a host city and country’s economy.
Proposing a Better Olympics
Implementing reforms starts with looking at how host countries are selected. However, this is easier said than done. Host selection processes are kept secret since many countries have opted out of bidding in recent years. European cities have dropped out of hosting the last four games because of social and environmental concerns, and these concerns have certainly not been lessened due to COVID. Managing the Olympic Games during the pandemic has required even greater infrastructure development to monitor athletes, trainers, and media personnel to help quell the spread of the virus.
So, what can be done by the International Olympic Committee to offset many of these social, economic, and environmental concerns? One solution is focusing more on sustainability and reforming the bidding and selection process. The Olympics have historically been hosted in Western democracies, and we have yet to see an Olympic host in an African city, nor have we seen India or Indonesia — two of the five most populous countries in the world — host as a result of disparities in the bidding process. There are currently improvements underway (such as regulations designed to reduce bidding costs), but these have not yet been fully developed.
Other steps begin with thinking about the future. Los Angeles is hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2028, and already released plans to expand policing and surveillance in the city, which could contribute to long-term justifications for continued levels of over-policing in the city. Taking a critical stance now to encourage community input about the Olympics is essential to minimize long-term disruptions and costs to potential host communities.
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