Olympic Legacy Planning
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Certification Maintenance
What You'll Learn
- Understand the role of planning in Olympic legacies: "the tangible and intangible long-term benefits" from the games.
- Learn best practices in Olympic legacy planning as showcased in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and London.
- Understand the need for planners to be involved in mega-events, and understand the role of planning departments and relationship to organizing committees and sponsors.
More Course Details
The Olympic Games are arguably the most well-known sporting events in modern history. Hosting the Olympics transforms a city for better or for worse. The legacy of each Olympics is a critical in determining its success, well after the event is over.
Olympic legacy is identified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as "all the tangible and intangible long-term benefits initiated or accelerated by the hosting of the Olympic Games/sport events for people, cities/territories and the Olympic Movement."
The IOC has specifically identified planning as key for all host cities, stating that the Olympics should "fit their sporting, economic, social and environmental long-term planning needs," and "align with their local, regional and national long-term development goals." Defining this as a major goal of the Olympics makes planners pay close attention to the process and impacts related to mega-events.
This course focuses on how three Olympic cities — Atlanta (1996), Salt Lake City (2002), and London (2012) — have ensured that the impact of their Olympic Games continues to provide a benefit to their communities. These case studies have important lessons for any city or region looking to bid for the Olympics or any other mega-event throughout the world.