Hyper Public: Olympic City - Present Past Future, the AIANY Global Dialogue Committees' fourth 2012 event, will focus on the London Summer Games with an eye on the legacy of recent Olympics held in Athens & Beijing and plans for the Rio 2016 Games.
In addition to speakers and a panel discussion, the event will culminate with our own (though considerably smaller) hyper-public Olympic celebration to view the opening ceremonies from this side of the Atlantic.
More than any recent Olympic Event, London emphasizes above all else, a legacy plan for reusable venues, upgraded urban mobility, urban regeneration, and environmental sustainability.
In comparison to Beijing's Bird's Nest, still a powerful symbol for China, architectural icons in London, (with exception of the Olympic Tower London) are arguably deemphasized.
While a successful plan to integrate the Chinese Olympic Grounds into Beijing's urban, economic and social fabric continue to be sought, in Athens, Olympic structures, once symbols of Greek pride, today, lay vacant and are associated with the nation's extreme public debt.
Hosting the Olympics is a 'hyper-public' spectacle where a nation, city, global corporations, products and personalities are presented and branded on a world stage that is like no other. Countries vie to host the 2-week games because they offer unparalleled opportunities to expand infrastructure and make manifest, a nation's aspirations and ethos through public-private partnerships.
Hyper Public: Olympic City - Present Past Future will uncover how host cities balance opportunities, challenges and risks in planning for not only the games, but their legacy long after the torch is passed.
more: cfa.aiany.org (143)