The Promise of the Games?: Imagination and the Washington, D.C. 2012 Olympic bid

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2001
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Bryn Mawr College. Department of Growth and Structure of Cities
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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In this age of global competition, large cities increasingly desire the Olympics as a mega-event because of its promises of local economic development, catalysis of urban development projects, and unparalleled standing on the global stage. These incentives outweigh the risks and significant costs of staging the Games. Not only does staging the modern Olympiad call for huge investments of money, time, effort, and other resources, so too does the mere chance of hosting the Games. Cities interested in hosting the Olympics must participate in a rigorous and intense competitive bid procedure before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects a host city. The bid process itself can be just as valuable to a bid city as hosting the actual Games themselves. The Olympic bid process has enormous potential as an imaginative exercise in reimagining the city. However, IOC composition, bid procedure, and common urban power structures all, in varying degrees, place demands upon and threaten this potential. The current Washington D.C. 2012 Olympic bid presents an excellent opportunity for the examination of the city's ability to challenge these limitations. As much about the city of Washington as the Olympic bid process, this thesis uses D.C.'s bid process as a means to display the city's multiplicity. Further, the bid process reveals elite forms of control at the same time that it serves as an important discussion about the future shape of both the city and the region.
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