Olympic Villages as Heterotopias

Contradictions between Megaevents and Quotidian Urban Life

Bibliographic Data

ID12633815
AuthorsRenata Sánchez (0000-0002-7094-0175, Universidade de São Paulo, corresponding author), Daniel Koch (0000-0002-4539-1346, KTH), Leandro Silva Medrano (0000-0002-1598-9101, Universidade de São Paulo)
Year2022
Volume39
Issue4
Pages420-441
Publication date2022-01-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHousing Theory and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1403-6096 • E-ISSN: 1651-2278
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14036096.2021.1992497
OpenAlexW4206562204
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited28

As a showcase for ideal urban visions, Olympic Villages encompass the utopian disposition of the Olympic Games. More precisely, Olympic Villages could be understood as a heterotopia, a theorization that stems from an analysis of their historical, conceptual, and spatial evolution over the course of the Summer Olympic Games. Against this backdrop, we analysed some notable examples of Olympic Villages as we questioned the relationship between their proposed “legacies” and their subsequent integration in the urban realities of their host cities. We conclude that most Olympic Villages have not fulfiled their legacy role as proposed by the IOC. This suggests that we need to further explore the relationship between the host region’s urban development and the Olympic Games so that the desired “Olympic legacy” may become part of the daily life of the host cities

Economic geography · Geography · Heterotopia (medicine · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Medicine · Spatial and Cultural Studies · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts