Seven 'Deadly Sins' of Mega-Event Planning: Lessons for Cities and Countries

An open lecture “Seven “deadly sins” of mega-event planning: lessons for cities and countries” was delivered in KFU by Professor of the National Research Fund of Switzerland (Zurich University), Mr. Martin Muller, on the 14th of October.

What are the reasons for unplanned effects leading to unfavourable consequences? In his lecture, based on examples from history and modern times, Prof. Martin Muller told audience about 7 “deadly sins” of mega-event planning, which affect both national planning and temptations connected with events of such kind, and also discussed possible approaches and scenarios for their overcoming.

Mr. Martin Muller is a specialist in geography and professor of the National Research Fund of Switzerland in Zurich University. His research interests include problems of mega-event planning and organising, as well as problems of city and regional effects caused by them. Today he is supervising a project for comparative analysis of mega-events in Brazil and Russia.

The Olympic Games in Beijing and Rio de Janeiro, World Football Cup in South Africa, European Football Cup “Euro 2012” and other world sporting mega-events have become subjects of his research.

The 7 deadly sins – pride, cupidity, fornication, envy, gluttony, anger, laziness – are compared by the scholar with most widely spread mistakes made during mega-event holding.

The following is referred by Mr. Martin Muller to the aforesaid types of mistakes: “attraction of benefit from mega-events”, “excess costs of mega-event organising”, “eventtakeover”, “excess state financing of mega-events”, “orientation to elite”, “elimination rule”, “temporary problem solving with the help of a mega-event”.

“Unfortunately many reorganisations made in the city during a mega-event are often temporary,” the author said. “Keeping the city clean” can serve as an example. During the mega-event street and road cleaning of rubbish is thoroughly supervised, but as soon as this event is over and foreign guests leave the city attention paid to street cleaning is no longer as close.

Telling about “the seven “deadly sins” of mega-event planning, Mr. Martin Muller didn’t decipher all parallels to generally known sins, thus permitting the audience to independently think this concept through.

According to the author of the report, his work can help to avoid many problems during mega-event planning in future.