(Re)building an Olympics Host City
On August 26th, 2016, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo emerged from a green pipe donning Nintendo’s Mario costume, signaling the closing of the Rio Olympics and a glimpse into Tokyo 2020. Viewers were amazed at the technological advancements and cultural heritage that Japan would present under the global spotlight, and for the most part, the world was confident they could make it a reality four years later.
As the Olympics moves across the world, a torch of innovation is carried that sparks advancements that drive businesses, increase tourism, and reinvigorate the city.
This sentiment was a sharp contrast over the opinion of Brazil’s preparation for the Olympics, as concerns were raised from even before they won the bid. As Rio prepared for one of the most watched international events in modern history, new reports headlined “Rio preparations deemed ‘the worst’ by International Olympics Committee”, or “Rio sees surge in police killings” plagued the media coverage. Even after the closing ceremony, media outlets continued to analyze how stadiums were abandoned, police killings continued to increase in frequency, and the quality of life for residents did not improve. The news had really put a damper on the first Olympic games hosted in South America. For reference, of the thirty-one summer games hosted so far, five came from nations without a majority-white population. It is important to remember that hosting the Olympic games is an immensely complicated undertaking, and the obstacles Brazil faced adds to how impressive the end result was: a renowned international competition.
As the Olympic games move across the world, a torch of innovation is carried that sparks advancements that drive businesses, increase tourism, and reinvigorate the city. Take the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, which allowed the coastal city to shed its politically-embroiled past and transform into the vibrant tourist destination we know it as today.
However, many cities cannot escape the so-called “Olympics curse,” an effect of building massive infrastructure that have little purpose outside of the event. Many stadiums and athlete villages built in the central location can be remodeled and integrated into the city post-Olympics, but those built in satellite locations are often abandoned. There are pictures of abandoned stadiums from Beijing and Athens, which only had their games hosted 11 and 15 years ago respectively. At least Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Winter Olympics, found use of their old athletic villages. The fact that they were converted into federal prisons sounds exactly like what U.S. government would do.
While the estimated cost of hosting the games has risen to $25 billion due to higher-than-expected expenses, the investment into the area looks promising to both Abe’s government and to international citizens ready to visit.
Tokyo is looking to avoid these single-use facilities by repurposing many of its already-built sports complexes in addition to building new ones, choosing a cost-effective and environmentally-conscious approach to the 2020 games. In terms of public transportation, the vast network of metro lines, bullet trains, and buses is already one of the best systems in the world. When Japan announced that their medals would be made from recycled metals, people were not surprised by Japan’s ingenuity, but impressed, nevertheless. While the estimated cost of hosting the games has risen to $25 billion due to higher-than-expected expenses, the investment into the area looks promising to both Abe’s government and to international citizens ready to visit.
Of course, the road to the Olympic games for Tokyo has not been completely flawless. Due to the increasing impact of climate change, Tokyo 2020 is projected to be the hottest Olympics on record, leading to the relocation of certain events and increased spending on maintaining suitable conditions for athletes and tourists. Tensions between South Korea and Japan have surfaced over issues like the use of the Rising Sun flag as well as the escalating trade war, a reminder that Japan’s past actions in World War II have not been forgotten, especially by nations like South Korea and China. In addition, the cost-reduction in reaction to fears of over-budget spending have started to eat away at the image of full devotion to hosting the games. Speaking of devotion, there was a point where critics speculated how citizens would feel about the increased tourism and traffic surrounding the games, which will cause disruptions to workers and students (Japan’s academic year extends through July). This concern was squashed as the people of Japan have shown their enthusiasm for the upcoming games, exceeding previous estimates of volunteers for the games with a total of 200,000 applicants.
Transforming from a city without accessible public toilets to one successfully operating the fastest train in the world, Tokyo amazed the world in 1964 and looks to do so again in 2020.
For most of us, when we envision Tokyo hosting the summer games, we assume their current innovation can carry the infrastructure to the finish line without a hitch. Roughly fifty years ago, post-war Japan lacked much of the infrastructure needed to host the 1964 Olympics, but they proved on the global stage the speed of their modernization. The nation faced more pressure from its past than it does today, and they were able to move past that and transform their image into one of creativity and peace. Transforming from a city without accessible public toilets to one successfully operating the fastest train in the world, Tokyo amazed the world in 1964 and looks to do so again in 2020. If that means bringing back Prime Minister Abe dressed as Mario, then they are already moving in the right direction.