Events and Economic Development : Bridging Theory and Practice

Events of all shapes and sizes play an important part in all of our lives. They are fun, frivolous, and often allow us to escape from our everyday lives – and they are also fascinating to study and examine in a more serious way, to understand what they mean and do for us – individually and collectively. Events and Economic Development, therefore, explores the economic impact and developmental implications of designing, planning, and delivering events – cultural events like the Notting Hill Carnival and Day of the Dead to sporting events like the Olympics to the Super Bowl.

This book comprises 24 chapters, each addressing various diverse and interconnected topics related to the economic and development implications of hosting events. Each chapter follows a consistent structure, beginning with the aim and learning objective(s), followed by theoretical focuses and the significance of these perspectives. Similarly, practical focuses and their significance are also outlined. The main body of each chapter consists of an 800 to 2000-word argument. Following the argument, chapters include managerial, policy, and/or research implications, explicitly mapping how they relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Each chapter concludes with a series of quizzes to test knowledge and debate questions to engage learners in discussing and interrogating the argument.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Nation Branding through Events

• Urban Transformation via Events

• Commercialization of Culture and Events

• Crisis and Resilience in Event Management

• Sustainability in Event Hosting

• Cultural Identity and Heritage Preservation

• Globalization of Sports and Festivals

• Media and Narrative Evolution

• Ethics and Sponsorship in Events

• Community Impacts and Gentrification.

This innovative, topical, engaging, and comprehensive book is an essential reading and teaching resource for all students and lecturers in events that are easy to integrate into educational programmes.