Legacy of the Beijing Olympic Games: a non-host city perspective

Research question: This paper examines the legacy of the Beijing Olympics perceived by non-host city residents almost five years after the Games and how that perception would affect attitude towards the hosting of the Games.

Research methods: An empirical survey study was conducted in which data were collected from 468 residents of Shanghai through structured questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified seven factors underlying the perceived legacy of the Beijing Olympics: ‘Psychic income and social capital’, ‘Infrastructure and skills development’, ‘Networks and cooperation’, ‘Environment’, ‘Tourism and economics’, ‘Sport and health’ and ‘Identity and culture’.

Results and findings: The findings demonstrate that the level of perceived legacy was significantly above the mid-point on all of the dimensions. In contrast, existing literature in western context demonstrated that on many dimensions values were below the mid-point, suggesting that the economic and cultural backgrounds of residents would make a difference. The paper also confirmed that perceived legacy would positively affect residents' attitude towards the hosting of Olympic Games, further highlighting the importance of continuous legacy leverage of Olympics.

Implications: Evidence from this study points to the danger of underestimating the effort required by event planners to harness legacy and shift perception of host city image. More needs to be done, post securing event rights, to communicate with national and international audiences particularly in the developing world.