Civilizing Beijing: Social Beautification, Civility and Citizenship at the 2008 Olympics

Abstract

In recent years, mega-events have been increasingly studied in the urban literature for their capacity to enhance the global visibility of a city and their role as catalysts for the modernization of urban infrastructure in host cities. Yet another important urban aspect of mega-events-led city marketing and urban image construction that is too often overlooked in the literature is the way these high-visibility global-scale events also foster state interventions to reform and control social behaviour. Hosting mega-events often pressures host cities to reinvent their image by transforming their human environment through social beautification and disciplining programmes. Urban research on mega-events is generally concerned with the socio-spatial implications of Olympic redevelopment, the impacts of mega-events on local politics and public policy, the economic legacy of mega-events and their role in city marketing (De Lange 1998, Essex & Chalkley 1998, Burbank et al. 2001, Gold & Gold 2008). Only rarely are the important ‘civilization campaigns’ that accompany these initiatives examined (Choi 2004, Lenskyj 2002).