Rio de Janeiro cittŕ dei mega eventi sportivi: progetti, politiche urbane e impatti sociali

Abstract

In the next two years, Rio de Janeiro will host the two largest sporting events on the planet, the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. This article illustrates the context factors which led the city to enter the global scene through this strategy of events and it critically reviews the stages that led to this choice, explaining how it used the 2007 Pan American Games to gain accreditation in this market and how it was inspired by the experience of the Barcelona Olympics. An illustration is also given of the urban plans and policies that are taking shape for Rio 2014 and 2016, showing the existence of a gap between the rhetoric of the window of opportunity for the city as whole, the result of having acquired these events, and the heavily selective nature of their possible positive impacts.