Sport events, space and the ‘Live City’

Specially-designed, temporary festive spaces designed to accommodate spectators and visitors have become commonplace when hosting major and mega sporting events but to date they have received very little academic attention in the urban policy or planning fields. In this paper I explore the development of a ‘Live City’ concept that organisers in Glasgow operationalised during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Empirically, I draw on fieldwork undertaken before, during and after the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, including documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews, and observation of the four managed Live Zones operational during the event.

Findings suggest that the concept of the Live City operationalised at G2014 represents a subtle, yet effective, means of further embedding capital accumulation processes in the urban setting. The Live City concept is reflective of a trend toward the staging of atmospheres as an urban policy tool. In effect, event visitors are welcomed to a fantasy city that only ever exists temporarily, staged for the benefit of others' consumption. The Live City is managed and assembled to prioritise affective atmospheres, reimagining the entire city centre as a venue to be experienced, mediated and replicated in the future when other major spectacles are attracted.