Brisbane 2032: The Promise of the First Climate-positive Olympics for Regenerative Cities

Abstract

In light of climate change and multiple ecological crises we are facing, sustainability driven urbanism is needed more than ever. While regenerative design has been around for over a decade, the notion of regenerative cities has seen a recent spike in interest as both governments and industry push to adopt circular economy principles. In this chapter, we examine the case of the city of Brisbane winning the bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics, which are the world’s first games required to not just be carbon-neutral but climate-positive. After establishing some contextual background around the history of urban regeneration strategies and the more recent focus on circular economies in cities, we juxtapose the bid’s sustainability aspirations of becoming net positive with the realities of urban economic growth and the need to upgrade existing and build new sporting venues. We use punctuated equilibrium theory to ask if the city’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to host the Olympics can be the urgently needed catalyst for a radical shift away from ongoing systemic issues underlying urban regeneration and towards embracing genuinely sustainable and regenerative city design.