Managing Sustainable Global Events: Sustainability Practices of Expo 2020
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Date
2019-08
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
There has been increasing international interest in the impact of hosting mega-events
and the sustainability and legacy considerations during the Event Life Cycle (ELC).
This research aims to understand the sustainability practices that a host city should
adopt along with the legacy considerations. Hosting a sustainable mega-event
requires attaching equal importance to the three pillars of sustainable development
(economic, social, and environmental). However, focussing on these three pillars
without having an extended legacy plan will lead to high spending on a short-term
event. The empirical research for this thesis focusses on assessing Dubai’s
sustainability practices in different sectors, and evaluates how they contribute to the
creation of a long-lasting, positive legacy in achieving the target to design and
implement a sustainable mega-event.
The concept of the sustainable mega-event is growing with the global development of
this type of events. Many developing countries have emerged as new players in this
industry, which previously was confined to developed countries. Sustainability is a
challenging concept for developing countries in general, as event design and
implementation have to find a balance between development and sustainability.
Hosting a mega-event brings many opportunities to the host city as well as many less
desirable consequences. For this thesis, the research question concerns how a
developing country can host a sustainable mega-event, formulate a legacy plan as
part of the sustainability plan, and still create a long-lasting legacy. The extensive
literature on sports events, mega-events and specifically Expo 2020 is reviewed, with
the aim of creating a sustainability framework and identifying the success factors of
sustainability.
Three case studies are reported for the sectors intended to contribute to the
sustainable hosting of Expo 2020: ‘Construction’, ‘Utilities,’ and ‘Mobility.’ The
case study data are based on semi-structured interviews, field observations, and
analysis of secondary documents. A sample of twenty-eight interviewees was
selected from different sectors and authority levels, based on their contribution to the
overall sustainability plans of Expo 2020 and the sector in which they worked. The
interview topics addressed include the understanding of sustainability pillars in the
mega-event, the drivers of sustainability, the changes happening in those sectors after
Expo 2020 preparations began, and other potential pillars.
The analysis of the data identified two success factors that should be considered
when managing sustainable mega-events: ‘design’ and ‘leadership’. Moreover, it was
demonstrated that a substantive and proactive legacy plan can contribute to the
overall sustainability of the event, especially in the social and economic pillars.
Results related to the three pillars and the legacy plan demonstrated an example of
the potential contribution that developing countries could make when hosting megaevents
which are designed and implemented within the Dubai framework of
sustainability and legacy.
This research contributes to an understanding of sustainability and legacy when
hosting a mega-event in a developing country, based on a holistic framework for
managing sustainability pillars and executing the set plan for legacy. The framework
is grounded on the equal prioritization of the sustainability pillars, a leadership
commitment, project designs that respect those pillars, and an on-going development
plan that uses the mega-event as one of multiple mega-projects. Sustainability and
legacy considerations should complement each other.
In conclusion, the findings of this research inform scholars and practitioners that
mega-events should act as a catalyst for behavioural change, and not be used
exclusively as a catalyst for development. The researcher recommends that a further
study on the same case study should be conducted after the completion of Expo 2020
in order to discover the actual legacy and sustainability outcomes from the plans set
in the preparation phase. In addition, the sustainability framework can be tested in
other developing countries and compared with Expo 2020 in order to discover the
extent to which similar plans can lead to the same outcomes.
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Keywords
sustainability practices, Expo 2020, mega-event, sustainable global events, United Arab Emirates (UAE)