The Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts - Case Study Example

SPORT AND EVENT MANAGEMENT (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) Introduction Mejor sporting events such as the World Cup and Olympic games commonly attract desires for hosting from several countries across the globe. The main reason for the scramble by countries to hold such events is the economic opportunity that comes with hosting such events such as the returns on investments (Ejwick, 2006, p. 8-26). Besides the economic impacts, however, the events have significant social and environmental impacts on the host cities. This paper assesses the economic, social and environmental impacts of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the host city, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games was a major international sporting event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil starting from the 5th to 21st of August. A total of 28 games were played during the event including the rugby sevens and golf, attracting a large number of people from across the globe. The event resulted in Brazil hosting a large number of visitors from the players themselves to high profile government officials from various countries. Economic Impacts The hosting of the Rio 2016 Olympics came at a time when the Brazil was struggling to bounce back economically following the recession of 2008-2009. One of the economic impacts of this event was increased revenue through tourism. During the Olympics, the city hosted over 400,000 visitors from all over the world including the internationally known musicians from America. This number was above the original target for the city. This resulted in an increase in foreign exchange as the tourists. Additionally, more employment opportunities were created in the service sectors such as the hotels and the sales targets for many of the city’s companies were reached. Additionally, the sporting event served as a way of opening up the city of Rio to the world, thus, the city is expected to attract more tourists and investors that are likely to influence its economy positively in the long-term. Although the event had various advantages both to the local residents and the city at large, the challenge lies in whether the expenses on the preparation of the event matched the returns, a situation known as the construction leakage. The construction leakage explains the reason why cities spend much money on preparation for a mega event with minimal economic impact. In Brazil, the money used in the preparation for the 2016 Olympics was sourced from taxpayers. Since the infrastructure developed was rendered useless after the event, the investment returns were lower than the amount of money spent in the preparation for the event. Another economic impact of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Rio was the commitment of public funds to the event, resulting in high public leverage. Days before the commencing of the games, for instance, there were protests in Niteroi with the protestors complaining of funds from education, health, and social programs being redirected to the Olympics, further sabotaging the already suffering economy of Rio and Brazil caused by the recession. Moreover, the high cost overruns of hosting the event added debt pressures on the city. Initially, the budget of hosting the Olympics was estimated to be $4.6 billion. However, as the games drew nearer, the budget scaled by 51% due to the construction of facilities such as the Velodrome, Aquatic Center and the Golf Course. Additionally, the budget included the construction of a new metro line in Rio (Garretson, 2016, p. 1-5). Dale, 2016, p. 1-3, argues that the city of Rio in Brazil should have never tried to host the Olympics while considering its economy. The author further argues that there was the lack of sufficient transport, sanitation, sporting and telecommunications infrastructure that resulted in enormous investment by the city. The situation got worse that by June, the Brazilian government took a loan of $850 million for the city of Rio to help in paying for the Olympic infrastructure and security following the pronouncement of a state of financial emergency. Social Impacts The recently concluded 2016 Rio Olympic Games was accompanied by a wide array of social issues that resulted in some foreigners fearing to be part of the live performances. One such social impact of the event was the forced of people in informal settlements. The construction works prior to the major event resulted in the forced eviction of many of the people living in Rio especially near the main Olympic Park. This resulted in many of the local residents being left homeless because of the 17-day event. The settlement that was worst affected was the Vila Autodromo favela. Another social impact of the Olympic is associated with the transport infrastructure. As part of preparation for the sporting event, there was the construction of a new metro line to the wealthy Barra da Tijuca area with the main purpose of transporting the spectators to the Olympic Park. Additionally, the regular bus services in the city led to the cutting of numerous lines, negatively affecting urban movement of the people living in poorer areas of the city. The restriction of movement for the poor people further led to the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in a city already known for its high levels of inequity. Moreover, the 2016 Olympic Games resulted in the diversion of money from public programs to finance the event, thus straining the public social programs such as health. The funds that were used in improving infrastructure and construction of more facilities in Rio in preparation for the Olympic Games were sourced from the public kitty. The Brazilian government considered the Olympics a top priority that it neglected the social amenities that would benefit the people. In 2015 December for instance, the city of Rio had a public health problem due to lack of enough money to keep hospitals running, yet preparations for the Olympics continued. The result was that the locals who relied heavily on public health programs were left to pursue private health programs that were unaffordable for them. There is also evidence of corruption in the preparation for the Olympic Games in Brazil. The amount of money used in the preparation for the event in Rio de Janeiro increased beyond the estimates causing the need to probe. Edwardo Paes, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, has done everything possible in his capacity to stop the opening of a parliamentary inquiry commission in the municipal chamber to investigate the Olympics expenditure. This shows that funds for the project might have been misappropriated by the officers in charge of preparation for the event. The other social issue associated with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is the emotional stress caused by the Olympic developers on the residents through forceful evictions. The most affected people were the residents of favelas next to the Olympic park who were issued with eviction notices despite having genuine title deeds for their lands and having broken no laws. Many of the poor residents of favelas had their homes bulldozed and their property destroyed in preparation for the event causing them stress and sicknesses in worst cases (The Guardian, 2016, p. 2-5) Although the Rio 2016 Olympic Games had a wide range of adverse impacts on the hosting city, the positive impacts of the event cannot be overlooked. The event brought people from various nations to share the rich Brazilian culture and practices. Additionally, the event played a big role in selling the Brazilian cultural practices such as the Samba dance to the rest of the world. Environmental Impacts The mega sporting events cannot take place without having impacts on the environment no matter how minimal they are. This is as a result of the large number of people attending such events who are likely to cause disturbances on the natural ecosystems. One of the environmental impacts of the Rio 2016 Olympics was the golf course trampling on nature. Initially, the city had two golf courses. However, thee golf courses were not used during the Olympics at the organizers decided to build a new one. This resulted in destruction of biological diversity. The construction of the new golf course is considered an environmental misconduct following its encroachment on the Marapendi reserve which is home to endangered wildlife species such as rare butterflies and pine species not found elsewhere in the world. Additionally, the hosting of the Olympics by Rio resulted in the destruction of the Atlantic Forest, which forms an important part of the Brazilian national heritage (Vercillo, 2016, p. 224-245). Another environmental impact of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was biodiversity loss. The event resulted in the killing of a jaguar through a gunshot. The jaguar, which was part of the Brazilian Olympic team’s amulet, was shot and killed at the Olympic torch passing ceremony after it escaped from the handlers. Capturing animal and forcing them to engage in unnatural things puts to risk both the life of the animal and that of humans. The killing of the jaguar was sparked negative reactions from activists considering the small number remaining in the wild. Conclusion With reference to the discussion above, it is clear that the mega sporting events produce more adverse effects than the positive effects. This is mainly because of the huge investments accompanied with hosting such events (Hiller, 2013, p. 34). For developing countries such as Brazil, the situation is worse since such events generate greater fiscal burdens and the host has to borrow to build. The returns on such investments are usually low, further increasing the economic burden on the country. References Dale, C. (2016). Rio 2016: Economists Question Wisdom of Hosting Olympics. CNBC International, p. 1-3. http:www. cnbc.com/2016/08/04/rio-olympics-2016-ecconomist-question-the-wisdom-of-hosting-olympics. Html & usg=AFQjCNFtC-WzAFf1QvJ59zuCs_PV5Nftlw. Retrieved 09/11/2016. Ejwick, AC (2006). The Economic Impact of Hosting the Olympic Games. Do Study Characteristics Matter? Bachelor thesis, UVA, p. 8-26. Garretson, J. (2016). Here’s What it Cost to Host the 2016 Rio Olympics and How it Compares to Previous Games, p. 1-5. http://m.mic.com/articles/150269/here-s-what-it-costs-to-host-the-2016-rio-olympics-and-how-it-compares-to-previous-games#.8k0oe368w. Retrieved 09/11/2016. Hiller, H (2013). Host Cities and the Olympics. An Interactionist Approach. Routledge, London, United Kingdom, p. 34. The Guardian (2016). Rio 2016: The Olympics has destroyed my Home. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/2016-olympics-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-destruction. Retrieved 09/11/2016, p. 2-5. Vercillo, C (2016). Rio’s 2016 Olympic Golf Course: City’s Last Remaining Ecosystems Left in the Rough. Institutional Repository. University of Miami Law School. Inter-American Law Review, vol 47, p. 224-245. 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