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This paper examines the growth of the Olympic Games against that of former host cities to understand whether this mega-event may have 'outgrown' its hosts. The increasing hosting requirements and governments' expansive use of mega-events as tools for urban development would suggest that the 'Olympic city' – a term we use for describing the size of the Olympics as hosted in different cities over the decades – has grown at a faster rate than former host cities. The analysis contrasts historical indicators that capture the evolving size of planning for the event based on four dimensions – sport, spectators, marketing and costs – as well as the urban dimension of hosting experiences (venues and infrastructure) with city trajectories based on demographic and economic indicators. This is done through a longitudinal analysis of former Olympic host cities from the 1960s and 1970s and from which continuous longitudinal data are available: Tokyo, Munich, and Montreal. The findings indicate that the Olympic city has grown more strongly than these former host cities, although not uniformly across trajectories. This gives evidence for the need to review the size of mega-event impacts if they ought to continue to generate interest in hosting them in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban transformation in the postsocialist Global East was heavily determined by the mass privatization of state assets and by a dramatic increase in car ownership. Tbilisi, Georgia, has experienced these significant changes. The upsurge in private vehicle ownership was brought about by failing public transit, ineffective planning, suspended vehicle quality control and greater individualism. The problem has been exacerbated on two fronts in Tbilisi: new buildings built since the 1990s are now consuming former open spaces, while more people seek parking for their cars in the few crowded remaining areas leading to competition for parking space. Households of residential buildings are devising strategies for guarding nearby areas suitable for parking, while non-driving residents are at a loss to use these formerly open spaces for other purposes. Barriers are installed by the car-owning residents of apartment blocks to impose the primary function of parking to shared residential courtyards, an understudied communal space, turning them into part of the city's automobility system. The article relies on data from in-depth interviews with city officials and residents of affected areas, policy documents and field observations from the districts of Tbilisi most affected by such change. It argues that the changes started with the privatization of urban space and followed by an increase in the dominance of the automobile in Tbilisi have led to the rapid modification and deterioration of collective areas of multistory apartment blocks and created factors that are transforming courtyards from leisure space into the part of Tbilisi's automobility system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ten-line cable car network of Tbilisi, Georgia, constructed by the Soviet government between 1953 to 1988, then decommissioned in the 1990s after independence and partially reactivated since 2012. During the Soviet era, Tbilisi's cable cars played an important role in the city's mass mobility, particularly in areas of steep geography. They also functioned ideologically, supporting Soviet ambitions toward public transportation and access to recreational space for the working proletariat. We argue that today's aerial network reflects new state ideological goals where cable cars lure global capital and facilitate the tourism commodification of Tbilisi's historic Old City. Tbilisi's cable car network can, therefore, be understood as embodying changes in government stances toward labor, leisure, and the direction of future development, while further reflecting the mobility politics of the city. The article describes the various ideological shifts that took place, exploring how Tbilisi's cable car network now links to contemporary changes in government urban development priorities and tourism promotion. The findings are based on interviews, document analysis, transit ridership/City Hall data, as well as field observations that collectively provide an overview of Tbilisi's cable car network as it has transformed since the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Georgia: From Autocracy to Democracy" is a collection of works edited by Stephen F. Jones and Neil MacFarlane that provides insights into Georgia's transformation from autocracy to democracy since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The book features contributions from a diverse group of scholars and practitioners, discussing topics such as Georgia's historical and spatial context, institutional and political transformations, and its relations with the international system. While the book offers valuable discussions, some contributions lack theoretical framing and read more like analytical reports. It is a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and anyone interested in Georgia's recent history. However, some of the content may feel outdated due to rapid changes in Georgia and globally, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent political developments. [Extracted from the article]

The Olympic Games and the Football World Cups are among the most expensive projects in the world. While available theoretical explanations suggest that the revenues of mega-events are overestimated and the costs underestimated, there is no comprehensive empirical study on whether costs exceed revenues. Based on a custom-built database from public sources, this article compares the revenues and costs of the Olympic Games and World Cups between 1964 and 2018 (N = 43), together totalling close to USD 70 billion in revenues and more than USD 120 billion in costs. It finds that costs exceeded revenues in most cases: more than four out of five Olympics and World Cups ran a deficit. The average return-on-investment for an event was negative (– 38%), with mean costs of USD 2.8 billion exceeding mean revenues of USD 1.7 billion per event. The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea recorded the highest absolute deficits. The Summer Olympics 1984 in Los Angeles, the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver and the 2018 World Cup in Russia are among the few events that posted a surplus. The article concludes that the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup suffer from a structural deficit and could not exist without external subsidies. This finding urges a re-evaluation of these events as loss-making ventures that lack financial sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how academics from the postsocialist countries of the Global East are increasingly claiming a voice in the publishing space of international geography journals. Based on a longitudinal database of editors, board members and authors of 22 leading English-language geography journals since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it demonstrates how the number of authors from postsocialist countries, notably from the new EU member states, has risen almost seven-fold since the 1990 s, exhibiting the strongest growth rate among all world regions. Yet, their roles as gatekeepers of academic knowledge (editors, board members) are much weaker. With its analysis, the paper intervenes in epistemological debates about the marginal role of the postsocialist Global East in the geopolitics of knowledge. It suggests that despite constant challenges, academics from the postsocialist Global East are becoming more and more visible internationally. It is, therefore, an opportune time to articulate a collective epistemological project, pushing for a greater role in redefining its conditions and modalities – all the while being mindful that no amount of conceptual innovation expected from scholars of the region can make up for a critical reflection of inherently difficult political issues in increasingly neoliberalized academic knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1960s, both mega-events and special economic zones have gained global prominence as agents of urban development. Often relying on extra-legal measures for their realization, these two initiatives further create areas of spatial exclusion in cities. This paper examines their coming together in Tbilisi, Georgia, where costs for the city's hosting of the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival were defrayed by the company Hualing Group in exchange for government approval of a 420-hectare special economic zone. Using a qualitative mixed-methods approach, the research shows that combining mega-events with special economic zones poses significant threats to the democratic processes tied to urban planning at both the local and national level. It further demonstrates how the coinciding of such projects promotes sprawl and privately-enclaved urban development patterns. In relation to urban theory, the paper contributes to a growing body of literature examining exceptionality in cities, and looking at how mega-events serve as legitimizing devices for even wider practices of long-term spatial and legal exception, such as special economic zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1991, armed conflicts in regions of Georgia have forced over 300,000 people to become internally displaced persons (IDPs). Many settled on the outskirts of cities in state-provided, non-residential buildings called collective centres, which function as distinct neighbourhoods with their spatial segregation and community networks. This article charts the impacts of social and spatial insularity on IDPs in these centres and frames it within the concept of neighbourhood effects. Research on neighbourhood effects has shown that physical and social isolation can exacerbate issues of health, education, living conditions, and employment, present in particular areas. Although IDPs are a vulnerable, socio-economically disadvantagedpopulation often living in concentrated poverty, to date this concept has not been applied to their conditions. This article addresses that gap by examining the neighbourhood effects of collective centres. The work provides a meta-analysis of existing research on Georgian IDPs and complements it with two years of first-hand data collected through a representative survey. The results show that IDPs within Georgia are at multiple disadvantages as a result of their isolation in collective centres. The article concludes with a call for greater government consideration of IDP isolation in situations of protracted conflict, so as to resist such detrimental effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the agency of unrealized megaprojects in bolstering economic activity, legitimizing political regimes, and expanding designer's portfolios. It argues that such proposals serve as a form of "Architectural Rumor," providing politico-economic agency despite ultimate project infeasibility. Specifically, it looks at two case studies of proposed yet unrealized island megaprojects in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan: the 2009 Zira Island Master Plan and the 2010 Khazar Islands Plan. Spectacular urban design and architecture have long served as catalysts for development, investment attraction, and real estate speculation. As cities compete with one another to lure capital and boost their global status, many design proposals have become increasingly expensive, ostentatious, and technologically sophisticated. The high-risk financial nature of grand urban design proposals and their frequent associations with displacement or environmental destruction suggests that the megaproject model is becoming flawed. At the same time, there remain advantages for clients and politicians to proposing designs that are more spectacular than feasible. Using a mixed-methods approach, four key arenas in which unrealized proposals circulate are described. The various benefits and detriments of such an approach to architectural commodification are also discussed, foregrounding the broader societal costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although events such as the Olympic Games and World's Fairs are among the largest of mega-projects, there is little systematic data to evaluate their outcomes over a longer period of time and across multiple sites. This research note describes the first longitudinal database on mega-event outcomes. It lays out the rationale and major goals of the database, its methodological approach and content, and its challenges and limitations. The database allows analysing larger patterns of mega-event contexts and outcomes, and helps evaluating mega-events as public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]