World cup economic and cultural impacts in Brazilian cities
Positive impacts
- Hosting international events such as world cup raises the city profile because of increase in recognition and tourist attraction which translates to economic benefit.
- Cities that hold world cup benefit from long-term investment as the sports avenues will undergo renovations, and the city will have to invest in transport and infrastructure to cater to tourists
- International events create job opportunities
- Improvement of communication technologies
Negative impacts
- Expensive cost of hosting
- Corrosion of public places
- Constricted contractual obligations
- Overblown budgets
Geopolitics involved in Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup
The choice of Brazil cities to host the world cup depended on a series of interventions in transport, security levels, hotel, tourist attraction sites, and stadium infrastructure. However, the Brazil government decided to choose cities as a way of escalating investment in the largest cities (Gaffney, 2016). The decision to choose a city as well depends on the capability of the cities to gain government financial support for projects and the ability to manage large-scale infrastructure schemes.
specific urban, economic and cultural impacts in specific Brazilian cities
Porto Alegre was known for developing innovative social policies, such as participatory budgeting and conducting an open dialogue with its citizens. The municipal state authorities expanded the Salgado international airport and roads around the Beira-Rio stadium without involving the community members (Gaffney, 2016). The project’s interventions created disputes over the urbanized areas localization of structures, urban movement, and recreational centers. Curitiba was famous for its continuous urban transportation and marketing strategies (Gaffney, 2016). Initially, Curitiba had a series of projects, transportation, tourist infrastructure, airport renovations, and stadium upgrade. However, the world cup event led to the withdrawal of the projects which resulted in projecting mismanagement.
Cuiaba just as other cities, the government had decided to institute several projects such as; rapid bus transit, road expansion, and rail line light installation to expand the city (Gaffney, 2016). However, the government did not accomplish the projects and left the city without a functional transportation system and unbearable debt which negatively impacted the city economy. Rio de Janerio was known for hosting mega-events because of the Maracana sports ground. The football ground was privatized after a renovation which resulted in the closure of two Rio Olympic training facilities, removal of indigenous settlement, community destruction, and demolition of the top public school in the area (Gaffney, 2016). The world cup negatively impacted the city as its’ real estate rose above the expected rates which translated to dysfunctional urbanism.
Fonte Nova was famous for its establishment of continuous urban politics and achievement of architecture. World cup led to the destruction of creativity in Salvador which barred its’ citizen from participating actively in sports. Natal, Manaus, and Brasilia had a stadium that did not meet the FIFA requirement (Gaffney, 2016). Therefore the FIFA administrators destroyed the stadiums in order to build up better stadiums. Manaus further proposed for improvement of their transportation network. However, the federal government rejected the proposal after an investigation that indicated incomplete documentation and project overpricing. The abandonment affected the displaced families for the sake of the project (Gaffney, 2016). Brasilia alongside the upgrading of the pre-existing stadium had a series of projects such as billion investments in light rail and reforming the plano Pilato structure. However, the projects failed because of corruption in the contract process and lack of research on the project impact on the environment.
Fortaleza was known for its intervention to attract tourists. The city benefited from the world cup events. The government constructed transportation networks and investment in wealthy areas (Gaffney, 2016). However, the project implementation created disputes among the public agents and the government because of the misinformation of people who were residing around the roads. The projects affected low-income communities thereby affecting the city economy (Gaffney, 2016). Belo Horizonte benefited from the implementation of three BRT lines that enhanced the transportation system. However, during the world cup, the constructed highways collapsed leading to several people nursing injuries and two deaths.
References
Gaffney, Christopher. 2016. The urban impacts of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In Richard Gruneau and John Horne (Editors), Mega-Events and Globalization: Capital spectacle in a changing world order, London: Routledge, pp. 167-185.