EssayBark -Excellent Writing Services

Format MLA

Volume of 3 pages (825 words)
Assignment type : Coursework

Description
In chapter 3, Sharon Zukin describes the ways in which cities have used their former sites of industrial production and turned them around into sites of upscale consumption (museums, upscale shopping districts, arts districts etc.). One aspect of this which Zukin does not discuss in this chapter, but does in some of her other writings, is the public/private development of sports complexes and arenas by cities in order to generate revenue. Discuss this strategy. In your personal experience, is this a viable economic strategy- for example, do you think the now-christened Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Smoothie King Center have improved the quality of life in New Orleans?

Remember, in your answer, the more theorists from the chapter you discuss and how their ideas relate to your experience, the better your grade will be. Read the enclosed article to jog your thinking about this matter.
Book: Introduction to Cities Chapter 3
2 youtube videos that will help:
New Orleans hopes for big economic impact from Sugar Bowl
and
The Abandoned Pontiac Silverdome Stadium – Transformers Last Knight Filming Location!!!

Stadium Architecture and Urban Development from the Perspective of Urban Economics
GABRIEL AHLFELDT and WOLFGANG MAENNIG
_A range of econometric studies suggest that neither major sports events nor related new stadium construction typically have any appreciable effect on income or employment at municipal scale. However, one important issue has long been ignored in the literature: architectural quality. At present, international stadium architecture is gaining markedly in significance. New stadia are intended to serve as visiting cards for their hometowns and to accelerate urban (re)development. This article discusses the current transition in international stadium architecture and demonstrates important trends, such as the use of iconic elements, by means of selected examples. We provide an overview of the first evidence for the welfare effects of the built environment as well as of expected stadium-related social costs and benefits. The article also reviews the first empirical evidence for the impact of a stadium at neighborhood scale. Unconventional stadium architecture is recommended as a means of either supporting area rehabilitation or amplifying the image and spending effects produced by professional sports. Sports administrators and politicians frequently claim that stadia and the sports events associated with them have beneficial effects on the economy. Surveys compiled before the construction or installation regularly demonstrate this. A case in point is the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany, for which various banks, organizations and universities tendered their expertise. Positive effects such as a long-term increase in the number of visitors, the establishment of new industries and so on are claimed for the period following the event, but in most cases the claims do not have the back-up of appropriate data. The event itself took place in the favorable context of a good party atmosphere throughout the country engendered by the unexpected success of the German national team — but there has been disillusionment over its economic effects. Econometric studies investigating the effects of the construction of sports facilities or events on the basis of statistical time series, paint a typical picture of the ‘paradoxical’ effect of sport on revenue and employment for the 2006 World Cup.1 In We thank two IJURR referees for valuable comments and suggestions. 1 There is a well-developed body of literature on the impact of major sports events: Baade (1988; 1996; 2000), Baade and Dye (1990), Noll and Zimbalist (1997), Rosentraub (1997), Coates and Humphreys (1999; 2003), Zaretsky (2001). Hagn and Maennig (2009) give an overview of the economic effects of sporting venues and an empirical investigation of the employment effects of the 2006 World Cup. Volume 34.3 September 2010 629–46 International Journal of Urban and Regional Research DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2010.00908.x © 2010 The Authors. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research © 2010 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published by Blackwell Publishing. 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA only a few cases has it been possible to demonstrate positive surges in statistical terms.2 The long-term effects, often only slightly positive ones, may be related to an aspect that has frequently been ignored: architectural quality and urban design. While the German World Cup venues are full of technical innovations and meet stringent requirements for comfort and safety, their design generally remains conventional and ‘functional’. In contrast, international examples show how unconventional, sometimes iconic, stadium architecture can be used to create new landmarks and boost successful municipal development policies. The first empirical evidence in this regard shows that architecture contributes to more than the business economy. When a structure generates positive spillovers for the local community or neighborhood, the use of public funds to cover the additional costs that arise through adopting an unconventional stadium architecture may be justifiable in economic terms. This dimension is of high actuality, particularly with regard to the ambitious plans for the forthcoming sporting events in South Africa (World Cup 2010) and London (Olympics 2012). The recent urban design literature suggests that architecture and urban design are experiencing a rise in significance in a globalizing economy as cities increasingly compete for tourists, firms and qualified workforce (Gospodini, 2002; Sklair, 2005). We approach this phenomenon from the perspective of urban economics in that we are searching for empirical evidence that allows the impact of the built environment to be quantified by means of economic indicators. We focus on the current transition in international stadium architecture, demonstrating important trends such as the use of iconic elements, since the typically large public subsidies for stadium construction call for a maximization of public benefits. Responsibilities for stadium architecture and stadium location Sports stadia are, in terms of the economy, relatively small undertakings that can cause at the outset barely measurable effects on the layout of the city as a whole (Rosentraub, 1997; Hagn and Maennig, 2008; 2009). Nevertheless, how is a stadium perceived by those in its immediate vicinity? Do stadia induce positive economic impulses on a small scale? Do they have that ‘extra something’ that invigorates and enriches a district? According to the votes of the local residents this at first appears fairly unlikely, since the construction of new stadia is regularly accompanied by strenuous protests by the citizens. The typical attitude of the residents runs along the lines of ‘A stadium? OK, but not in my backyard!’. This attitude was impressively revealed in the 2001 referendum on location and subsidies for the Munich Allianz Arena, where the share of yes votes near to the projected site was almost 50% lower than the average for Munich (Ahlfeldt and Maennig, 2009a). In the case of Prince George’s County, Maryland and its FedEx Field (the home of the Redskins [US National Football League]), only at the fourth serious attempt, after countless sites had been assessed and 8 years had passed, could a site be found, and even then construction was pushed through against the wishes of the inhabitants (Tu, 2005). If one considers, together with increased traffic and other undesirable consequences of a mass influx of sports fans, the architectural style of modern sports arenas, the negative reaction of the inhabitants becomes at least partially understandable. With the possible exception of the arena in Munich, the 2006 World Cup in Germany did not give rise to any unique constructions or even any iconic architecture that contributed to the city-planning aesthetic or whose aura spread beyond its own region. The World Cup 2006, therefore, stands in contrast to the experiences of Barcelona hosting the Olympic Summer Games in 1992 or the plans for the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa, 2 See Hotchkiss et al. (2003) for the 1996 Olympic Games, Jasmand and Maennig (2008) for the 1972 Olympic Games, and Sterken (2006) for soccer World Cup competitions. 630 Gabriel Ahlfeldt and Wolfgang Maennig International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 34.3 © 2010 The Authors. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research © 2010 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. where the planning authorities have put urban rehabilitation at the focal point of public investment. In Germany’s preparations for the Cup, it was widely forgotten that striking (stadium) architecture can not only fulfil the management criteria of professional organizations, but can also contribute to city development. The club managers’ aim is to maximize revenues and profits for their teams. To this end, they must restrict their expenditure to what is necessary to keep the fans happy. Their task is not to engage in the development of a city or region, to make their architecture interesting in the context of the overall city plan or to achieve ‘external’ effects for the regional economy, which have no relevance to their takings. Community decision-makers are responsible for the policies