ABSTRACT

Rationale: This article is concerned with the impact that hosting a sport mega-event has on regional development. Most academic literature on event-led development mainly deals with major international contests held in metropolitan areas. Unlike them, this research looks at a mega sporting event held in a small rural town and critically examines the economic and ecological impact of this event.

Approach: To do so, it investigates the case of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. This study chiefly rests upon secondary sources which include government documents including official statistics, civic organisations’ pamphlets, and media reports. While this may reduce the originality of this study, my synthesis of existing publications can offer an informative and critical account of the development project associated with the Winter Olympics.

Findings: The main discoveries of this article include (1) the most development and construction projects associated with the PyeongChang Winter Olympics are too large and too expensive to sustain in the post-event setting; (2) the creation of neoliberalist leisure industry in PyeongChang is at odds with the surrounding local communities; (3) different interest groups clash amid a series of irresponsible Olympic development projects; and (4) within these problematic circumstances the construction firms enjoyed huge financial and reputational gains.

Practical Implications: The construction corporations are the central players in the Olympic industry. There exists only a thin line between this Olympic Winter Games and a mega construction project. With the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Games being awarded to Gangwon, it is necessary to observe carefully how this event will unfold in terms of the sustainability of the existing winter sports facilities built for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Research Contribution: This paper can be a useful addition to the academic literature on a sport mega-event held in a rural region.

摘要

理由：本文关注举办大型体育赛事对区域发展的影响。大多数关于事件主导发展的学术文献主要涉及在大都市地区举行的重大国际竞赛。与他们不同的是，这项研究着眼于在一个乡村小镇举行的大型体育赛事，并批判性地审查了这一赛事的经济和生态影响。

方法：为此，它调查了 2018 年平昌冬奥会的案例。这项研究主要依赖于次要来源，包括政府文件，包括官方统计数据、民间组织的小册子和媒体报道。虽然这可能会降低这项研究的独创性，但我对现有出版物的综合可以为与冬奥会相关的发展项目提供信息丰富的批判性说明。

发现：本文的主要发现包括：（1）与平昌冬奥会相关的大多数开发建设项目规模过大且成本过高，无法在赛后环境中维持；（2）平昌新自由主义休闲产业的创建与周边当地社区不符；（3）在一系列不负责任的奥运发展项目中，不同的利益集团发生冲突；(4) 在这些有问题的情况下，建筑公司获得了巨大的财务和声誉收益。

实际意义：建筑公司是奥运产业的核心参与者。本届冬奥会与大型建设项目之间只有一线之隔。随着2024年冬季青年奥运会被授予江原道，从为2018年冬季奥运会建造的现有冬季运动设施的可持续性方面，有必要仔细观察这项活动将如何展开。

研究贡献：本文可以作为关于在农村地区举办的大型体育赛事的学术文献的有用补充。