Short-term gains and long-term challenges to learning from mega-event planning in the city of Genoa

For decades, a mega-event strategy to urban development has been popular with developers and politicians as a way to deliver fast results that can help to regenerate areas of cities and boost a city’s global image. While this approach can deliver quick results in the short term, the literature has not yet investigated the lasting affects this has at an institutional level on city planning and decision-making processes over the long term. One interesting case to investigate this phenomenon is the city of Genoa, which hosted three large events over a period of 12 years to regenerate the city centre and reconnect it to its de-industrialized waterfront. While the 1992 Expo, 2001 G8 Summit and 2004 European Capital of Culture significantly altered the urban fabric of the city centre, this paper will take a closer look at the new approaches and strategies decision makers implemented in the planning of these events, analysing whether they continued to utilize these planning tools and approaches following the events. The paper finds that while the city improved in its planning of events through the process of hosting the three events, it struggled to maintain such innovative approaches as part of routine practice post-event.