メガイベントと都市

抄録

    Recently, many urban researchers have shown an interest in mega-events, such as the Olympic Games, the football World Cup, and world expositions, because many cities around the world are eager to host and hold such events. This academic trend is closely related to the political and economic conditions of the cities in the age of global inter-urban competitions. Furthermore, holding mega-events provides an opportunity to develop or redevelop infrastructures in the city in which the event is being held.
    In Tokyo, the Olympic Games will be held for the second time in 2020. A Korean city, Pyeongchang, will host the Winter Olympics in 2018. For reconsidering the urban meanings of hosting and holding mega-events in East Asian cities, the Japan Association for Urban Sociology (JAUS) planned and coordinated the Japan–Korea Joint Session on the theme of “Mega-event and the City,” in the 34th JAUS Annual Meeting, held at Bukkyo University, Kyoto, in September 2016.
    In this session, a Korean sociologist, Professor Yi Hyun-Seo, analyzed the discourses of the organizing committee, the local governments, and the civil society in a bid to conduct Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018. Dr. Kim Eun-Hye, another Korean presenter, argued to point out the relations between the holding of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, the redevelopment projects in the city, and the rise of a new middle class in the country. The third presentation by a Japanese urban sociologist, Professor Matsubayashi Hideki, made a focal point regarding the urban legacies related to the holding of the Olympic Games using a case study of the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. Through these presentations, the session provided animated and fruitful discussions pertaining not only to a process analysis of applying as a candidate and hosting mega-events but also to the post-holding of legacy studies.