University of Toronto Alumni and Friends are invited to a presentation on
From the World Cup to the Pan Am Games:
The Realities of Hosting a Mega-event
by
Dr. David Roberts
Lecturer
Urban Studies Program, Innis College
University of Toronto
Synopsis
Mega-events, such as the World Cup and the Pan Am Games, give cities the opportunity to showcase themselves to the world; however, the TV-friendly urban images do much to obscure the processes, compromises, and social consequences to the host cities. Furthermore, the promises made by event boosters, planners, and host-city leaders are often not realized. While the Pan Am Games are not at the scale of the World Cup or the Olympics, the event presents both opportunities and challenges for Toronto as a global city.
Bio: David J. Roberts is a Lecturer in the Urban Studies Program at Innis College. One of his areas of expertise is the challenges and opportunities that host cities face when hosting mega-events. He spent almost a year in Durban, South Africa before and during the 2010 World Cup doing research on urban planning, social movements, policing, and how Durban used the World Cup to attempt marketing itself to the world. David is originally from Seattle, and has been in Toronto for almost 8 years. He is a University of Toronto alumnus, having completed both his MA and PhD in the Department of Geography.
There is no cost to attend.
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