Olympic Facilities and Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Sochi 2014

Abstract

The effort to balance social and economic interests has always been a critical issue for the post-Games usage of Olympic venues. The planning, the construction but also the selection of the post-Games usage of a facility is a socioeconomic and most notably a political issue since it concerns how the public inherits capital goods and assets from mega-events. Using an instrumental case study approach this study explores the 2014 Sochi Games to critically examine how an authoritarian regime deals with its Olympic facilities pre and post-Games, and provides useful insights regarding the interrelationship between motivation for hosting, architectural philosophy, costs and post-use. Data has been collected through literature review; published academic studies were the principal source and official reports and releases, conference minutes and proceedings, directives and guidelines of official bodies and relevant news coverage were additionally used. According to the analysis mega-events in non-democratic settings are predominantly used as landmarks of strategic importance, offering legitimatization for megalomaniac developmental agendas, which result in the creation of large-scale facilities with more symbolic than functional qualities. Furthermore, since in non-democratic states the mechanisms of accountability and the institutional constraints are weaker (or absent) instances of corruption and extensive cost overruns are bound to occur.