Festivalisation and urban renewal in the Global South: socio-spatial consequences of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Abstract

Sports mega events increasingly take place in the metropolises of emerging economies. As a city-marketing tool, these events are said to make the host cities more visible in the international competition for foreign and domestic investments. Infrastructural upgrades and fast tracking of urban development projects, as well as giving focus and legitimation to urban policy makers, are supposedly the further benefits of hosting mega events. This recalls the ‘Festivalisation of Urban Policy’ hypothesis by Häußermann and Siebel, which describes the instrumentalisation of large-scale cultural and sports events to support image building and to catalyse urban development in European and US cities. Given that socio-economically very heterogeneous nations increasingly host these events, it is necessary to extend the debate and to investigate whether the political, economic and social effects in these countries of the Global South – conventionally labelled as the developing world – can be explained with the festivalisation hypothesis: Are the urban development effects qualitatively comparable and, if so, are they more strongly or weakly pronounced than in the Global North? The 2010 International Federation of Football Association World Cup in South Africa is a fitting example to explore the characteristics and dynamics of mega events in the host cities of the Global South.

Keywords:

• mega events
• festivalisation
• urban renewal
• 2010 FIFA World Cup
• urban planning

Notes

1. These words, often quoted in relation to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, stem from a letter from the then South African president to the FIFA president Sepp Blatter; the letter was part of South Africa's bid book.

2. ‘Ke Nako’ ( = Sesotho/Setswana) means ‘It's time.’

3. The report commissioned by the South African government in 2003 and conducted by the international economic advisory agency Thornton and Feinstein as part of the bid process came to the conclusion that by hosting the World Cup South Africa could achieve noticeable effects in material and immaterial areas, the value of which would significantly exceed the government's investment volume. They assumed a GDP increase of 31.3 billion Rand. In addition, the consulting firm forecast a tax income of 7.9 billion Rand and 159,000 additional jobs, which would in turn lead to a relief for the national social system (Thornton and Feinstein 2003).

4. For the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, the resettlement of 400,000 people was announced, and New Delhi (India) wanted to become ‘slum free’ before the 2010 Commonwealth Games 2010 – 300,000 slum dwellers were compulsorily resettled between 2003 and 2006 (COHRE 2007).