The World Cup is in full swing right now and as the world turns to South Africa to see the best football players in the world there is another, non-sports related, side to the global spectacle. South Africa has invested billions of dollars to prepare the country to host the event, and there are many long term benefits and potential drawbacks to this investment.
In Cape Town alone one stadium cost US 600 million dollars to build to international standards. Infrastructure projects have can have a positive impact on a country, but with the World Cup most of the money goes towards sports stadiums that have little impact on the country's economy after the event. Beyond that, in a country as poor as South Africa it can be easily argued that there is a better use of the money in a myriad of different projects.
The Olympics, not only the World Cup, has its detractors. Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. One third of Brazilians live on just more than a dollar a day and to think of the billions that will be invested can lead to a lot of second guessing as to how wise the money is being invested.
On the other side of the coin, there are many infrastructure projects that are performed that do have lasting impacts. Roads and transportation are built and improved. Energy projects are beefed up, and millions of money is poured into cities to clean them up. All of these things can improve the lives of the citizens in the long term. It is also difficult to measure the impact that the pride of hosting the World Cup has on a population.
The World Cup is no doubt an incredible event and the South Africans have put on a great show so far. These events are important for a country, but maybe there needs to be planning done to see how to maximize the event for the long term benefit and development of the host country, especially when countries in the third world host these events.
LeadEarth
No comments:
Post a Comment