Spatial scale, time and process in mega-events: The complexity of host community perspectives on neighbourhood change

Abstract

A focus on the ‘mega’ aspect of hallmark events can divert attention from the micro – those local communities who are most impacted by the event. Similarly, attention to the ‘event’ aspect underplays the long process of bidding and preparation before any putative legacy of urban transformation for local people. This paper uses qualitative data to unpack the complex and multi-layered views of local residents, living in a deprived neighbourhood beside the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games site in Scotland. They reflect on five years of intensive urban regeneration, evaluate the experience of ‘lockdown’ at Games time, and consider their hopes and fears for the future of the community. Interviewing a mixture of lifelong, established, new and returning residents, we found considerable common ground across the different groups in terms of hopes for a new, mixed community in the area. However, findings also highlight concerns around urban governance practices and the limitations of a market-led approach to regeneration.

Highlights

• •

  Host communities experience a mega-event as a process with strong emotional impacts.

• •

  Perspectives were varied and nuanced, rather than binary ‘for or against’.

• •

  Participant views varied between pre-event, during and post-event time phases.

• •

  New housing was welcomed but there are concerns about future management.

• •

  The analysis highlights concerns about market-based processes of change.