Bidding for Development

Reviews / Votes

Review by Mark Bloomfield

Sports are powerful on many levels. From the individual willpower demonstrated by athletes to the passion exhibited by fans to the resources invested in mega-events. Never has it become more visible to me that large international sporting events have enormous impacts on the lives of people in cities and nations around the world. As the U.S. Ambassador to and longtime participant in South Africa's Comrades Race, the world's oldest ultra-marathon.my zeal for running also draws me into any stories related to sports. This year's newspaper, TV, radio, and Internet commentaries have been teeming with observations and opinions about the London Olympic Games or Sochi Winter Olympics. And coverage in anticipation of and during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil reached new heights this summer. It is incredible how these events have captivated billions of people. However, I feel that an increasing amount of attention has not been a fixation on the athletic experience or sporting competition. Much of the dialogue, instead, has been on the construction needed to prepare for events, the pressing timelines, and the many complex challenges and controversial issues that surface in relation to a large-scale sporting event. Individuals from every corner of the world, particularly in the respective host cities, have voiced frustrations-sometimes to the degree of leading demonstrations-over the cost of the Games, monetary investment and human capital alike. The pervasiveness of social media has done its part in elevating these concerns and providing a platform for host city residents who may never reap the benefits-physical or social-that are used to justify these costs.

The trifecta of this backdrop, my involvement in South Africa's Comrades race, and my profession in business economic policy led me to further consider these legacies of sporting events-especially the legacies in terms ofeconomic and urban development. I wanted to know how positive and concrete legacies can be shaped by decision-makers early in the game. Bidding for Development: How the Olympic Bid Process Can Accelerate Transportation Development, came forth as a timely publication in which the authors use quantitative findings from real-world examples and trend analysis to answer questions and make well-informed guidelines on bidding. This book makes an even more unique case that cities can play an active role in preparing themselves to benefit from the Games, without even hosting them. How? By capitalizing on the Olympic bid process.

While many academic books on mega-events focus on cities with winning bids, this publication looks at the phenomenon of repeat Olympic bidders and the advantages that come from bidding for, yet never hosting, the games. In this context, the book explores the junction between transportation development, the Olympic bid process, and the resulting legacies for bid losers.

Whether one is academically, professionally, or personally interested in mega-event legacies and the daunting process that goes with any bid for an event, he or she can turn to Bidding for Development for conclusions on how bid leaders and the residents of a city can come out on top after a bid.

At just over 70 pages, this "how to guide" for prospective Olympic bidders features novel comparative analysis and original research drawn from interviews with subject matter experts, analysis of "bid loser" trends, and close review of Manchester's and Istanbul's bidding track records-two cities that have bid for the Olympics and Paralympics numerous times without ever hosting.

Drawing primarily on findings from Istanbul's and Manchester's bid histories, the authors present a backbone of facts and stats to support their Bid Framework, or logic model and guidelines for interested bidders. Pairedwith these quantitative findings, the book provides a great balance between the analytical and the enjoyable. I was intrigued by the storylines associated with what are described as "bid champions" in each of these cities. The book's description on how the International Olympic Committee's bid procedures have evolved over time to meet new global environmental demands adds a strong dynamic to the overall narrative as well.

As a resident of Washington, D.C., a city currently in the running for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games, I have direct interests in the bid process. After reading Bidding for Development, I am much better prepared to face my city's bid phases and have a deeper understanding as to what we can do to make it worthwhile. I believe that the book reveals invaluable information to any reader-not only bidders-interested in how urban development strategies in preparation for a sporting mega-event bid process can cause lasting positive social change.

Bloomfield is the president of the American Council for Capital Formation. He is also the U.S. Ambassador to the Comrades ultra-marathon in South Africa. In this role he has received three Vic Clapham Comrades medals, received the Spirit of Comrades award, and was recognized at the unveiling of the Nelson Mandela statue in Washington D.C.