Hosting major global events: how to achieve a lasting legacy

Major events have been around for a long time, but only in recent years has the emphasis shifted from hosting to using the event as a platform for accelerating regeneration and creating a positive legacy for the host city and its people.

Increasing hosting requirements places greater demand on a city’s ability to efficiently transit large numbers of people. This has created some of the most complex programmes of work ever experienced, whereby improvements to transport infrastructure are undertaken concurrently to the construction of new venues infrastructure and major urban developments. This is with the overall aim of creating a physically and socially integrated built environment capable of facilitating some of the biggest events in the world. No small feat!

You only have to look at how the tiny Arab state of Qatar completely transformed its country-wide infrastructure to enable it to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In just ten years, Qatar built a new international airport, new port, new underground and overground rail system, new roads and supporting infrastructure, plus seven brand new stadiums and multiple training venues, over 100 new hospitality venues and hotels and more.

Granted, most host cities are given a six- to eight-year window to plan and deliver a major event, but while this may seem generous, it only leaves organisers more susceptible to market fluctuations, political upheaval and unforeseen events, which perhaps wouldn’t be so much of an issue in a shorter programme.

Add political agendas into the mix, which explicitly set an ambitious scope early in the programme. Then adda fixed budget based on immature information and little consideration for risk against an immovable deadline.

This really is the recipe for a perfect storm.

8 approaches to achieve a positive lasting legacy

The following approaches can be taken to mitigate the impact of the various complexities and constraints, and aid the organisers in working efficiently towards the finish line:

1. Encourage politicians to empower the decision-makers

Politicians in the host city must retain a level of oversight. However, an arms-length delivery vehicle, empowered to make decisions and relatively free from the limitations of local authority bureaucracy, has proven to be more effective – as was seen with the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority.

2. Develop a reporting structure to track progress

Enabling the above is a governance framework, which assigns accountability and facilitates decision making. Allied to this is a reporting structure that utilises technology to capture and collate data so it can determine the current and future position of the programme.

“This further enables swift management intervention.”

3. Integrate all work as a single programme

To account for the significant complexities, all work should be integrated as a single programme, under the remit of the delivery organisation. There should be a single controlling management function and a responsibility for mitigating programme risk, which identifies opportunities and manages interfaces.

A programme management framework which enables this integration and aligns process with policy is fundamental, with a fragmented programme and/or management function counterproductive to successful delivery.

4. Set an integrated baseline at bid stage

To mitigate against the premature, ambitious setting of scope and budget, an integrated baseline should be set at bid stage.

“This must set out clear assumptions and exclusions, and take proper account of risk and includes for optimism bias.”

The integrated baseline provides the basis by which performance should be measured and managed and can act as a powerful tool for negotiating and agreeing clear responsibilities for delivering and funding each element of scope.

5. Take a strategic, programme-wide approach to procurement

“Due to the long lead in times, major event programmes are more susceptible to market fluctuations.”

Overheated market conditions and the supply chain pricing ‘tournament premiums’ are also common factors which drive up costs for the organisers.

To avoid this, a strategic, programme-wide approach to procurement should be taken to secure long-term supplier agreements, maximise economies of scale across key commodities and, importantly, allocate risk between employer and contractor based on who is best placed to manage – not just the cheapest option.

6. Prepare to incorporate the latest innovations into the project

Another consideration for organisers is the need to make allowances for rapid technological advancements and to have a strategy for incorporating the latest innovations into stadium and transport design.

To take a simple example, when planning began for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, smartphones had not long been in existence and mobile ticketing did not exist. Now, in the post-pandemic world, mobile ticketing is expected as the norm. To plan for this, a budget can be set aside for innovation and clauses included in key contracts to enable the projects to keep pace with global change.

7. Establish the client’s sustainability strategy from the outset

Establishing this from the outset is key, cascading any relevant government or organisational targets, including linking back to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Key performance indicators should be established within supplier procurement to ensure suppliers are bought into sustainable delivery. Reporting requirements should also be factored into contracts from the outset, with a common data capture and reporting system utilised across the programme.

8. Ensure host city readiness from the beginning

While getting the physical assets built in time is the aspect of any event which grabs media attention, the concurrent workstreams around the host city’s readiness and legacy are equally important.

“Each of these workstreams should be established early on and have the opportunity to input into the planning of the capital works.”

For example, solidifying the legacy strategy for a stadium during the design phase can help ensure that key legacy requirements are included. This, in turn, reduces the need for post-games conversion works – reducing waste, cutting overall costs and making efficiencies in the delivery schedule.

An integrated approach is the key to success

By implementing the measures set out above, and taking an integrated approach to programme management, host cities can overcome the evolving challenges and complexities associated with delivering a major event and creating a lasting, positive legacy.