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| dc.contributor.author | Hamel, Brian | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-05-07T19:40:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-05-07T19:40:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-05-07 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10429/2572 | |
| dc.description | The Olympic Games, on the surface, are seen as a spectacle for international competition that leave behind destruction in host cities that can never be recovered. Unusable stadiums and a debt that can never be repaid are a few common phrases that have represented the Olympic Games in recent times. The Olympic Games in Barcelona cost the city $9 billion, left them $6 billion in debt but has revamped the city into one of the most traveled cities in Europe because of the infrastructure improvements and developments brought on by the Olympic Games. This negative connotation does not capture the intent of the Olympic Games. It is therefore important to understand what is happening with the Olympic Games in current times, and how planning for the Olympics can lead to long term growth for host cities. The Olympic Games bring funding and deadlines for major projects that would not be possible without the Olympics. These projects can include updating old public transit or investing in new forms of public transit, new development projects that will develop new hot spots in different parts of the city, changing the image of a particular part of the city or the city as a whole through the Olympic Games being in the city, and any other challenges that can arise from a host city, the Olympic Games can be a catalyst in solving those challenges. This thesis is intended to not only look at what the Olympics can do but is also a critique of what has been done in the past. Using Detroit as a site, we can analyze a city that in recent years has started to see growth in development projects bringing in a new outlook on the city of Detroit. Detroit has many challenges including a lack of substantial public transportation with a lack of direct transit to the international airport, an over-dominant downtown district, vacant homes and lots, flooding and stormwater management, and an image from outsiders that portray Detroit as a dangerous and desolate city. The Olympic Games being held in Detroit can be a catalyst to providing solutions and options for these challenges that can be funded by the Olympic Games and be pushed to completion by the deadlines that the Olympic Games bring. The goal of this investigation is to explore the Olympic Games and see if the Olympic Games can benefit Detroit to envision solutions to its current challenges. The outcomes of this thesis will provide solutions to problems in Detroit through the Olympic lens, offering a before, during and after approach to specific problems in Detroit. The purpose of this work is to reimagine how the Olympic Games can be used, not as a way to show off already glamorous cities but a way to improve cities from the funding and deadlines that the Olympic Games bring. This thesis is important and relevant because it can provide a new way of looking at how cities approach the Olympic Games, and vice versa on how the Olympic Committees choose a host city. This thesis focuses on how Detroit can use a diverse point of view on how to solve challenges within Detroit with the point of the Olympic Games bringing major funding to support the realized solutions. The Olympics are incredibly expensive with an average cost of $19 billion to host an Olympics in the last 30 years. This number seems excessive but when looking at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 they had a budget of $9 billion and had an excessive debt of $6 billion after the Olympic Games. This debt that the city has incurred has led the city to become one of the most traveled to cities in Europe. But the Olympics are not all good, Athens, which is the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games is seen as such an amazing Olympic city but when the Olympics were hosted again in Athens in 2004 the city designed an Olympic Games that left ruins. Many of the stadiums and Olympic Village are abandoned and decayed after the Olympic Games have left and are still abandoned to this day. The bidding process for the Olympic Games is not cheap and not a short task, the average cost of an Olympic bid ranges from $50 million to $100 million, while the average length from the start of the bidding process to hosting the games is 20 years. With multiple cities spending the time, money and resources to bid for the Olympic Games, what happens when they lose? New York City bid for the Olympics in 2012 and ended up losing the bid to London but they did not let their bid proposal go to waste. Many of the proposed developments were still implemented into the city, projects including an old railway line that was supposed to be a private walking street for the athletes and coaches was turned into what is now the Highline. More projects include Hudson Yards, an extension of the No. 7 Subway line and two new baseball parks. This investigation has started with precedent studies to understand the successful and unsuccessful Olympic Games and what has caused them. Specific elements of a certain Olympic Games can be successful even if the Olympic Games as a whole is seen as unsuccessful. ARCGIS mapping techniques will prove to be vital in researching the city of Detroit to uncover challenges the city is experiencing along with providing a foundation that the solutions will be based upon. To be rooted in the social and cultural context of the Olympic Games, large development projects and in Detroit there will be interviews conducted with a variety of people. One interview will be with Josh Sirefman, the CEO of the Michigan Central Innovation District in Detroit, Josh is currently working on one of the largest development projects in detroit and previously worked as Chief of Staff for Deputy Mayor of Economic Development in New York City. The roles Josh has worked will provide insight into how Olympic projects are implemented and specific challenges with working on large development projects in Detroit. The proposed solutions of this investigation should be looked at by athletes and coaches to see if they are possible solutions as these solutions can go against the norm of the Olympic Games. Lastly, the people of Detroit will provide insight and uncover more problems into Detroit that can be looked at through the Olympic lens while also providing feedback on possible solutions to these problems. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | The Olympic Games are a spectacle for international competition and an opportunity for . Unusable stadiums and a debt that can never be repaid are a few common phrases that have clouded the Olympic Games in recent times. This negative connotation does not capture the intent of the Olympic Games. It is therefore important to understand what is happening with the Olympic Games in current times, and how planning for the Olympics can lead to long term growth for host cities. Using Detroit as a case study, we can analyze a city that in recent years has started to see growth in development projects bringing in a new outlook on the city of Detroit. Detroit has many challenges including a lack of substantial public transportation with a lack of direct transit to the international airport, an over-dominant downtown district, vacant homes and vacant lots, flooding and stormwater management, and an image from outsiders that portray Detroit as a dangerous and desolate city. The goal of this investigation is to critique the Olympic planning process by planning an Olympics in Detroit with a focus on Olympic Legacy . The outcomes of this thesis will provide solutions to problems in Detroit through the Olympic lens, offering a before, during and after approach to specific problems in Detroit. This investigation has started with precedent studies to understand the successful and unsuccessful Olympic Games and what has caused them. ARCGIS mapping techniques will prove to be vital in researching the city of Detroit to uncover challenges the city is experiencing along with providing a foundation that the solutions will be based upon. To be rooted in the social and cultural context of the Olympic Games, large development projects and in Detroit there will be interviews conducted with major developers in Detroit, athletes/coaches, and people who live in the city of Detroit. | en_US |
| dc.subject | Urban Planning | en_US |
| dc.subject | Sport | en_US |
| dc.subject | Detroit | en_US |
| dc.subject | Masterplanning | en_US |
| dc.title | Olympic Leverage | en_US |
| dc.title.alternative | Using the Olympics as a Catalyst for Urban Development in Detroit | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
