(Way too Early) Which (New) City Should Host 2032 Olympic Games? (cost of, train)

[theurbanfiles]

The poll I guess is simple enough, but perhaps to make it helpful, or more interesting... Pick a Top 3. One from the Africa group, one from the Asia group, and one from the Europe/other groups.. or just pick 3.. whichever you prefer. I only included cities that were the primary city on the bid, and I left off cities that have hosted before... IMO it's cooler to see a new city (or country, or even continent) get a chance to host for the first time.

Anyways, we have (as of right now):

Africa
-Cairo, Egypt
-Accra, Ghana
-Johannesburg, South Africa

Asia
-Mumbai, India
-Jakarta, Indonesia
-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia + Singapore (I lumped these together since it's a joint bit and they are at a similar standing level where it's not certain which one would be primary host)
-Shanghai, China (+Hangzhou and Nanjing)

Europe
-Rhine-Ruhr, Germany
-Budapest, Hungary
-St. Petersburg, Russia (+Sochi and Kazan)
-Madrid, Spain
-Bologna (I believe the more primary city for venues at this point, at least) + Florence, Italy

Other
-Brisbane, Australia
-Buenos Aires, Argentina

Cities that have hosted and also have expressed interest in bidding at this point are London, Berlin and Seoul, though the latter two would be joint bids... Seoul interestingly with Pyongyang, in fact)

[theurbanfiles]

Dang it... somehow I forgot to make the poll give multiple choices as options.

If I had to pick from these...

Johannesburg would win from the Africa group for me. It seems the most stable and developed, has the best transit infrastructure in terms of air and on ground IMO (though Cairo's Metro I understand is splendid), and it has experience now hosting major events, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Importantly also, is climate, from an athletic perspective, I believe Johannesburg has perhaps one of the most desirable climates in the world by number of comfortable days.. which would benefit athletes compared to the others in the group.

Shanghai intrigues me just because of how massive a world city it is. I think that in terms of infrastructure, venues, etc. it will be able to match and exceed any of these. August may be a bit uncomfortable there... but if steps can be taken to reduce emissions in advance of the games it should be fine.

Rhine-Ruhr: This one intrigues me more than any of the other European cities in the group, first because it's far enough north in Europe to not have excessive heat in summer... furthermore it is a collection of cities which are all really impressive. I really just started looking up information about Rhine-Ruhr recently and it would be an intriguing region to see collaborate on hosting an event like this. I think a very timely Olympic games there in terms of democratizing them and the concept of polycentric urbanism.

Buenos Aires I also find very intriguing. Honestly, I like Buenos Aires as a city much better than I do Rio de Janeiro and I think many visitors would find the same as well.. this city might put on the best party for the games of any in this group. Also, I think the coastal setting would be nice (perhaps having a regional city like Punta del Este host water events?), and it being winter there, temps would still be pretty great (August averages for BsAs are 64/48... cool.. but optimal for athletic performance honestly).

Edit: Accra intrigues me too.. because it would be a true taste of an Sub Saharan African nation/city hosting the games... I remember a post in another thread about Accra making a case for "Capital of the World" due to it being the closest major city/capital in the world to 0', 0' on the Latitude Longitude scale which I found fascinating. However, I think it's nowhere close infrastructurally/etc. to truly being the best choice for something like this.

[backpaker]

The Ruhr is not a city.

It'd be like saying the north-east corridor (Boston, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Washington).

Out of the cities in the Ruhr, Corlogne would have the highest chance, the Olympics however are too expensive to host, plus corruption scandals, little revenue cities get, and the facilities that they have to build pretty much getting abandoned after the Olympics are Not helping the cause.

Hosting the Olympics have gone from something that meant an enormous source of pride for the city, to something people don't want in their cities.

From a competition that used to be about uniting the world, to an event where middle aged shady European men get to make millions conducting shady businesses.

Let us not forget how ridiculous the opening ceremonies have become, suddenly now Cities have to invest millions and millions of dollars just So that they can top of the past hosts. Back in the day, the ceremonies used to be more about the athletes, Different peoples and music. Now is about fireworks and technology and showing off.

[Pueblofuerte]

ACCRA for me - This time for Africa - want to hear some of that Azonto.

[Dry Heat]

Bombay.
Time for India to host one.

[danielsa1775]

Well i hope its not Brisbane, though its actually a joint bid for all of south east Queensland (4 metropolitan areas).

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by backpaker

The Ruhr is not a city.

It'd be like saying the north-east corridor (Boston, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Washington).

Actually the German bid is for 13 cities to host throughout the Rhine-Ruhr region. That's why cavsfan listed it that way. The cities proposed are: Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne, Bonn, Aachen, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Oberhausen and Recklinghausen.

[projectmaximus]

I like the concept of any of the African cities, however I worry that none of them could adequately handle the cost of infrastructure and venue development. I'll pick Johannesburg for this reason, but even they probably would be harmed more than helped by hosting.

Rhine-Ruhr is extremely intriguing, and the fact that they state they already have most of the venues built is a huge plus. The decentralized concept is a slight stumbling block imo, but hardly a disqualifier. I might also go with St Petersburg for intrigue and existing infrastructure.

In Asia, Shanghai is easily the most equipped single city for this, though it seems they want to include nearby Hangzhou for good measure, which is just a 45-min train ride away. However, I'm gonna pick as my #1 option (and also vote for in the poll) a hypothetical KL-SG shared Olympics. Perhaps solely and entirely because I have to imagine a long awaited high speed rail link between these two cities would be a requirement for such a bid to emerge victorious. Flights between the two cities are cheap and plentiful, but an efficient rail link is needed especially to connect the cities of Malacca and Johor Bahru that are in between. If this makes it happen, FINALLY, then give them the Summer Olympics!! Insane humidity/heat be damned. (oh and I do think they'd do a decent job, both cities having excellent infrastructure to host major sporting events)

[joacocanal]

I'd like a city like Mumbai or Cairo, seeing the Olympics in new countries would be nice.

[cmptrwlt]

Shanghai or Saint Petersburg. Corrupt authoritarian regimes and the IOC go hand in hand.