In recent years, major sporting and cultural events such as the Olympic Games have emerged as significant elements of public policy, particularly in efforts to achieve urban regeneration. As well as opportunities arising from new venues, these events are viewed as a way of stimulating investment, gaining civic engagement and publicizing progress to assist the urban regeneration process more generally. However, the pursuit of regeneration involving events is a practice that is poorly understood, controversial and risky.

Events and Urban Regeneration is the first book dedicated to the use of events in regeneration. It explores the relationship between events and regeneration by analyzing a range of cities and a range of sporting and cultural events projects. It considers various theoretical perspectives to provide insight into why major events are important to contemporary cites. It examines the different ways that events can assist regeneration, as well as problems and issues associated with this unconventional form of public policy. It identifies key issues faced by those tasked with using events to assist regeneration and suggests how practices could be improved in the future.

The book adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective, drawing together ideas from the geography, urban planning and tourism literatures, as well as from the emerging events and regeneration fields. It illustrates arguments with a range of international case studies placed within and at the end of chapters to show positive outcomes that have been achieved and examples of high profile failures.

This timely book is essential reading for students and practitioners who are interested in events, urban planning, urban geography and tourism.

About the Author
Dr. Andrew Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Westminster.

Reviews

"The book adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective, drawing together ideas from the geography, urban planning and tourism literatures, as well as from the emerging events and regeneration fields. It illustrates arguments with a range of international case studies placed within and at the end of chapters to show positive outcomes that have been achieved and examples of high profile failures." - Lonaard, Issue 14, Volume 3, March 2013

"Events and Urban Regeneration is suitable for scholars, practitioners, and policy makers interested in the impact of event planning on urban policy, and in the ways that events illustrate wider urban governance challenges." - Urban Affairs Review

"...the book is well-written, easy to comprehend, and organized in a way that students can gain awareness and insight from the book's conceptual foundations. Some students (and theirprofessors) should be able to put this theory into practice because of the detailed and insightful case studies that are included." - Nicholas Wise, Glasgow Caledonian University, published in the Journal of Urban Affairs

Book Information
ISBN 9780415581486
Author Andrew Smith
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 590g