Wijbrands, Wouter (2021) Mega-events and Their Urban Environment: Considering the 1939 World's Fair. Bachelor thesis.
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Abstract
Mega-events, such as World’s Fairs and Olympic Games, have often been assessed for their legacies, what remains after the event has been hosted. These events are often critiqued for not benefiting city residents, but are rather focus on aesthetics to increase a city’s image. This study has tried to determine the importance of the physical and socio-cultural legacies of the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair, by placing them in their urban-historical circumstances. On the basis of interviews, two event sequences have been constructed. Centered around two types of physical infrastructure – the mega-event site of Flushing Meadows Corona Park and associated urban infrastructure – they provide context and intentions behind the choices made. The results reveal that the physical infrastructure built for the World’s Fair has been and still is of great importance for Queens. Moreover, these legacies focused on the automobile, has prompted suburban development along its highways. Lastly, exclusionary forces at the fair made clear that the fair’s benefits were not for everyone. Interpreting the socio-cultural legacies connected to the physical infrastructure, mega-events as sophisticated strategies for urban development were considered insomuch as they may not put local needs first and disregard the social reality of urban spaces.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Spatial Planning and Design |
| Supervisor: | Dijk, T. van and Kuper, B.J. |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2021 06:55 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Jul 2021 06:55 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3558 |
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