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Visualising sustainability at the Olympics

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  • John Lauermann

Abstract

Cities are increasingly central to sustainability discourse, as urban lifestyles and infrastructure are framed as solutions to global environmental problems such as climate change. This framing relies on geographically referenced visualisations such as architectural renderings, maps, and geospatial models, which portray environmental futures by envisioning the ‘sustainable city’. By showing what sustainability might look like in a future city, these geovisualisations strategically link urban planning interventions to global environmental policy debates. This process is explored through a case study of sustainability design proposed in Olympic cities. Aspiring Olympic hosts regularly adopt sustainability narratives of global–urban sustainability. In an effort to cast their events as ‘the most sustainable Games ever’, city leaders experiment with urban design (e.g. temporary stadiums, zero-carbon building design, or large-scale environmental restoration projects) and link them to global environmental debates. Visual analysis techniques are used to code architectural and geospatial images in 61 Olympic planning proposals, and to evaluate the use of visualisation practices in urban politics. While these designs are quite speculative, the visual artefacts produced through the planning process can be used as political tools for catalysing investment and projecting policy leadership.

Suggested Citation

  • John Lauermann, 2020. "Visualising sustainability at the Olympics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(11), pages 2339-2356, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:11:p:2339-2356
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098018808489
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Marijke Taks & Daichi Oshimi & Nola Agha, 2020. "Other- versus Self-Referenced Social Impacts of Events: Validating a New Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Hillary Angelo & David Wachsmuth, 2020. "Why does everyone think cities can save the planet?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(11), pages 2201-2221, August.
    3. Vanesa Castán Broto, 2020. "Beyond tabulated utopias: Action and contradiction in urban environments," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(11), pages 2371-2379, August.

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