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Rio de Janeiro

The 2016 Olympics: promised regeneration, delivered debt and disused venues.

How this page works

Six sections are filled in: the parts that are stable and factual. Four are yours — evidence, perspectives, evaluation and the current connection. Those four are where the marks are, and they are deliberately empty. A case study only counts once you have completed them.

↧ Download the Rio de Janeiro template Word · ready to fill in · the six given sections already completed
Before you write about this one

Compare with a host generally judged successful. The difference is the analysis.

§ 01

The ten-part record

01 · Location Filled in for you

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
22.9°S 43.2°W · scale: Local to international

See this case in context on the case study map.

02 · Geographic context Filled in for you

A major Brazilian city that hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics after hosting World Cup matches in 2014, with substantial public investment in venues and transport during a severe national economic downturn.

03 · Processes Filled in for you

What is changing here, and the mechanisms driving it.

  • Mega-event hosting as a claimed development strategy
  • Infrastructure investment concentrated in wealthier zones
  • Displacement of residents for construction
  • Post-event venue underuse
04 · Evidence You build this

Find these, and write the year beside every figure. A statistic without a date is not evidence.

  • Total cost, and the overrun against the original bid
  • Number of residents displaced
  • Current status of the main venues
  • Promised versus delivered transport improvements
Your figures go here
05 · Stakeholders Filled in for you

Who is affected, and separately, who holds the decision-making power.

  • Displaced favela residents
  • Brazilian taxpayers carrying the cost
  • The International Olympic Committee
  • Construction and property interests

Named above as a starting list. For each one, add what they actually want, and note where two of them want incompatible things.

06 · Perspectives You build this

Find two sources that disagree about this case — not two summaries of the same view. Record who each is, what they claim, and what interest they have. A perspective without a holder is not a perspective.

Your notes go here
07 · Concepts Filled in for you

Which of the six apply here, and what each one reveals.

  • Power. Who bids, who pays, and who is moved for the build.
  • Possibility. Legacy is a promise made before the event and audited after.
  • Scale. Global spectacle, local displacement.
08 · Evaluation You build this

How significant is this? How effective was any response? What are the limitations of your evidence? What else could explain the pattern? Reach a judgement and defend it.

Your notes go here
09 · Current connection You build this

One dated development from the last twelve months. Does it strengthen, weaken or complicate the case as recorded above? Update this every time you revisit the case.

Your notes go here
10 · Exam use Filled in for you

International sporting events, legacy claims, and honest evaluation.

Now go and build the other four

Reading this page is not the same as having a case study. Take the template, find the evidence, and fill in sections 4, 6, 8 and 9 in your own words.

↧ Download the template Or take the blank version for a case of your own
§ 02

Where to look

Start here. Prefer the organisation that produced the data over anyone summarising it.

  • International Olympic Committee olympics.com
    The legacy claims, from the body that made them. Read against independent evaluation.
  • Our World in Data ourworldindata.org
    Brazilian economic indicators around 2014–2016, for the downturn context.
  • Google Scholar scholar.google.com
    Search “Rio 2016 Olympic legacy”. Post-Games academic evaluation is where the real assessment sits.

Links checked 27 August 2026 · external links open in a new tab

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