A Retrospective Analysis: 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and Lessons for Future Olympic Cities

Tuna Batuhan

doi:10.31822/jomat.656291

EN

A Retrospective Analysis: 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and Lessons for Future Olympic Cities

Abstract

This paper examines the rationale of the 1996 Summer Olympics bid of Atlanta and provides a retrospective analysis of the short- and long-term impacts of the Olympic Games. Olympics provided a means to facilitate the primacy of downtown Atlanta and this new strategy was partially successful mainly because of other external factors. The elites of downtown Atlanta seized the opportunity presented by a potential Olympic hosting in Atlanta to make promises and implement a vision that revitalizes certain downtown areas. Atlanta’s Olympic strategy gave positive results in the short-run, however did not help to increase the primacy of downtown Atlanta in the long term due to short-term focused strategies, prioritizing regional issues and shifting focus of business elites to regional growth. Atlanta’s Olympic planning practice mostly benefited the business interests while the desires and needs of the residents mostly disregarded, mainly because of the privately-lead planning initiatives. Atlanta Olympic planning practice showed that privatization of the Olympic planning results in limited effects in urban transformation. This paper concludes that the Olympics is not a “one-fits-all approach” for host cities, thus the outcomes differ from city to city mainly because of the different objectives, politics, and culture of each city.

Keywords

Mega-event planning , olympics , Atlanta , Planning Practice

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Tourism (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Tuna Batuhan ^*
0000-0001-7662-3405
Türkiye

Publication Date

July 30, 2020

Submission Date

December 6, 2019

Acceptance Date

April 21, 2020

Published in Issue

Year 2020 Volume: 5 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31822/jomat.656291

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA68GP99DJ

APA

Batuhan, T. (2020). A Retrospective Analysis: 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and Lessons for Future Olympic Cities. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism, 5(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.31822/jomat.656291

Cited By

Systematic Review for Knowledge Transfer at International Sport Mega-Events

Sustainability

https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064902

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A Retrospective Analysis: 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and Lessons for Future Olympic Cities

Abstract

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References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

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Cited By

Systematic Review for Knowledge Transfer at International Sport Mega-Events