NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Olympics

Olympic legacy? Rio urban planner, report raise questions

AP
16 Dec, 2015 03:10 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) " A Rio de Janeiro urban planner warns that next year's Olympics will widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor in this already socially stratified city.

Orlando Santos Jr. of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro helped research a 190-page report that cites abuses linked to the games and questions the legacy for most of Rio's 12 million residents.

"Rio is already a very unequal city," Santos told The Associated Press. "After the games it will be even more unfair and segregated. There will be more wealth in a few areas, but no improvement for most people."

A Rio city government spokeswoman contested the findings, but said city officials had not seen the entire report and declined to comment.

In an email the city said transportation projects being built for the Olympics " a new subway line extension and high-speed buses " would speed commuting time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The city said "due to the Olympics" Rio de Janeiro has been able to improve education, health care and housing. It has repeatedly said that out of the total games' budget of 38.7 billion reals ($10 billion), 57 percent is private money and only 43 percent public.

The report titled "Rio 2016 Olympics: The Exclusion Games" suggests areas the Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee should monitor.

The report coincides with President Thomas Bach saying last week the IOC would start auditing money it hands out to sports organizations, including the $1.5 billion it is giving to Rio organizers to prepare South America's first games.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The white paper by "The Popular Committee for the Cup and Olympics" touches on games-related security, police violence, transportation, spending and housing.

A few highlights:

___

BUDGET

The report disputes the city government's contention that most of them money for the Olympics is from private sources. It concludes that 62 percent is government money and cites documents from the Olympic Public Authority, an agency comprising all three levels of government set up to oversee games' spending.

The report says the private sector is paying less than 38 percent of the costs of the games " not 57 percent as Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes contends.

It says the city's accounting involves "omission of costs directly associated" with holding the games.

"In the current financing structure created by the IOC, the Olympics are not good at promoting social fairness," Santos said. "They (the IOC) are a billion-dollar business, which is OK. But the business has to serve a wider interest of Brazilian people."

___

REMOVALS, EVICTIONS

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Citing information provided by the Rio city hall, the report says 22,059 families have lost their homes (a total of 77,206 people) between 2009-2015 from infrastructure projects related to last year's World Cup and the Olympics. The report estimates "at least 4,120 families have been removed and 2,486 remain under threat of removal by reasons directly or indirectly related to the Olympic project."

The city hall says most displacements are unrelated to the big sports events.

"In the recent era the Olympics have been used as basically a steamroller to roll over marginalized communities," said American political scientist Jules Boykoff, who has written three books on the Olympics and is in Rio on a Fulbright research fellowship.

"We've seen it in prior places like Beijing, London and to a certain degree in Vancouver as well," Boykoff added. "This has become a bit of an Olympic tradition."

The report said real estate prices near the Olympic Park in suburban Barra da Tijuca have increased by at least 200 percent, pulling in speculators and pushing out long-time residents.

___

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

FREE TICKETS?

Boykoff, who contributed to the report, suggested the IOC should give away free Olympic tickets as a gesture of inclusion.

Mayor Paes promised a year ago to buy 1.2 million of the 7.5 million tickets to be issued for the games and distribute them to schools and poor children. He made the pledge after the 2014 World Cup when Brazil's poor were excluded by high ticket prices.

"We are trying to do something more democratic," Paes said at the time.

Paes has been praised by the IOC and is widely believed to have presidential aspirations.

The promise has not been kept, and the city hall did not reply to several requests from AP for comment.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Selling the 7.5 million tickets is a vital source of revenue for the 7.4 billion real ($2 billion) operating budget.

To their credit, Rio organizers have tried to make tickets affordable for local residents.

___

SPORTS LEGACY

Track and field is king at the Olympics. But the sport will leave little legacy in Rio.

The report notes that Rio's main track and field training facility " the Celio de Barros Stadium " has been closed since 2013 and will not be reopened before the Olympics.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The running track in central Rio has been torn up and used as a parking lot.

Brazil is expected to do poorly in track and field at the Olympics.

The main sporting legacy will be three sports halls, a velodrome, tennis center and golf course built in suburban Barra da Tijuca, the heart of the games.

A BMX track and whitewater canoe venue have been built in the other venue cluster in the working-class neighborhood of Deodoro.

___

Rio 2016 Olympics: The Exclusion Games: http://www.childrenwin.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DossieComiteRio2015_ENG_web_ok_low.pdf

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

___

Stephen Wade on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Olympics

Olympics

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

Olympics

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

Olympics

The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Olympics

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes
Olympics

'World-leading': New study addresses concussion risks for female athletes

The new technology installed will detect signs of concussion from blood.

08 Jul 09:12 PM
Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold
Olympics

Olympic champion Butcher wins kayak cross World Cup gold

29 Jun 10:44 PM
The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers
Olympics

The staggering figure the Paris Olympics cost French taxpayers

23 Jun 06:29 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP