Mega-event marketing and urban growth coalitions: A case study of Nanjing Olympic New Town

Abstract

With the shift of urban governance towards a more entrepreneurial mode in China, local governments and business interests have formed various coalitions of growth. These coalitions are widespread in China nowadays. The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of such growth coalitions through a case study of Nanjing's Olympic New Town. This growth coalition was built upon a mega-event, namely the Tenth National Sports Games in China. The marketing of this mega-event mobilised the interests of various governments, in particular the municipal government, and real-estate developers. However, when the mega-event was over and the property market faced a slowdown due to a tightening up of macro-economic policies by the central government, the coalition was quickly dismantled. The instability of the coalition has had some negative implications for urban development. This case study highlights the unstable nature of growth collations based on specific events.