The Chicago Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics
The Chicago Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics
Much Promised, Little Learned
The Chicago bid to host the 2016 Olympics represented a particular variety of neoliberal policy action: a low-cost physical plan, largely dependent on private financing. It is quite possible that Chicago’s quick rejection in the final round of the host city competition was due to the more robust, state-supported bids mounted by its competitors, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. Despite the modest physical plan developed by the Chicago 2016 Committee, local proponents made grandiose claims regarding the economic impact of the proposed Chicago Games. This chapter provides an overview of the Chicago Olympic proposal: the process for developing the Olympic bid, the bid’s physical and fiscal plans. Additionally, interviews with Chicago 2016 Committee members and staff, civic leaders, and community activists that were conducted following the rejection of the Chicago bid found that many of the details of the Chicago bid were poorly understood by local elites, and that indeed, significant flaws in the Chicago bid were generally unrecognized.
Keywords: neoliberalism, Chicago, Chicago 2016 Committee, International Olympic Committee, Richard M. Daley, community benefits agreement
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