RIO 2016 AND PARIS 2024: A REFLECTION ON THE HERITAGE OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Abstract

Introduction: Urban space is a constant target of power disputes and in the current period of capitalism it has been seen as a central element of capital reproduction. What we see being built in the city of Rio de Janeiro demonstrates a new urbanism simulated by financialization and sustained by the differential element. The Olympic Games are then transformed into instrumentalized mechanisms for the expansion of capital profit globally. As a result, local interests are weakened and development projects give way, leaving as legacy empty discourses and projects without concrete results in terms of social transformation. Objectives: The objective of this article is to start a comparative reflection between Rio 2016 and Paris 2024 in order to verify how the plans for the legacy of these events are being carried out and what results they are bringing to the host cities and their population. Results: since these are initial reflections, we do not yet have conclusive results to present, but we have already pointed out clues as to how the process will unfold. One of them concerns the issue of valorization of space by capital, resulting in the increase of real estate prices and consequently in gentrification processes. Conclusion: It is necessary to analyze attentively the unfolding of this process in the years to come, in order to verify if the pattern of real estate valuation remains in an already expected growth curve or if, as we propose as hypothesis, there will be more forceful impacts resulting from the combination of these elements with the operations and legacy of the Olympic Games in Paris.