I was recently invited to present a paper at an early career workshop at the University of Oxford. Hosted by the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities and Oxford’s Institute for Science, Innovation, and Society, the workshop was part of a broader symposium on The Flexible City.

Major thanks are due both to the organizers for inviting me, and to all of the workshop participants for presenting a set of amazing research papers and great feedback on my own work.

The paper I presented is attached below: this is a summary piece, based on two manuscripts under review/in preparation.My core argument is that, when we consider it’s impact not just in ‘successful’ host cities but in the much broader sample of cities that ‘unsuccessfully’ bid to host megaevents, a fairly coherent process of urban development and policymaking is visible. Many cities pursue megaevent-inspired investment programs even if they are not successful in securing a hosting contract: a bid to host a megaevent (like an Olympics bid) is an effective way to design site plans and line up funding, and these plans (or slightly modified versions thereof) are often implemented even if a city does not win the megaevent in question.

Please feel free to email me (jlauermann[at]clarku.edu) to obtain copies of either of the two manuscripts on which this paper is based. As with all conference papers, the usual disclaimers apply: this is a preliminary (and highly condensed) manuscript based on research that is still in progress, so please do not cite or circulate.

Lauermann – Megaevents planning as global urban policymaking