One recent UQ graduate is off to the home of the Olympic Games to speak at a prestigious international conference about how such mega-events impact on the continued planning and development of host cities.
Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning graduate Katherine Gould has been awarded a place in a seminar run by the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in Greece.
A guest of the Academy for two weeks, Ms Gould will present a paper analysing the planning of mega-events, to distinguish the pitfalls and difficulties in converting purpose built Olympic facilities post-games.
Ms Gould said the scale and impact of mega-events had escalated dramatically in recent decades.
“The appropriate planning of mega-event facilities has become an increasingly important topic of discussion and debate,” she said.
“Mega-events are extremely difficult to plan for due to the large scale multi-faceted nature of the project and the lasting physical impacts associated with their development, which stretch decades into the future of a city.
“More often than not in recent decades, the sport facilities used to host Olympic events become the landmarks of the host city and in some cases the country.
“So it’s critical that facilities built to host the Olympics are appropriately planned before, during and after the Games to ensure these landmarks are functional and provide long-term benefits for the host city.”
Ms Gould said being accepted as one of just 35 students internationally to attend the IOA seminar would not have been possible without a bit of luck, and a lot of hard work.
“UQ has opened doors I never thought possible and the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management in particular has been extremely supportive, helpful and generous,” she said.
“Had I not attended UQ, the possibility of being nominated for such an amazing opportunity would not have occurred, and I would not be looking forward to a seminar in Greece and continuing research in my field.
“UQ provides not just the knowledge necessary to be successful, and the drive to want to do so, but also the contacts to ensure that that knowledge and drive are put to good use.”
Despite the belief that mega-events result in an overall positive benefit for their host city, Ms Gould said there are often difficulties in using purpose built Olympic facilities post-games, due to their competition-specific design and size.
The sheer cost, scale and impact of mega-events in recent decades has made this issue an increasingly important topic of international discussion and debate.
“There’s a common criticism that mega-event facilities are divorced from their surrounding communities if they are developed as isolated projects outside the overarching city planning goals,” she said.
“Due to the nature of their initial construction, there’s also the issue that mega-event facilities must be able to host international competition initially, yet adapt afterwards, allowing them to serve a wider range of cultural, economic and social communities in the long-term.”
Fellow students from the Faculty of Science will attend the 2pm graduation ceremony tomorrow, at the UQ Centre, St Lucia campus.
Media: Ms Katherine Gould (currently overseas, and only reachable via email at katherine.gould@uqconnect.edu.au) or Alex Osuch (07 33467406 or a.osuch@uq.edu.au)
