Host cities

Sourcing and securing funding is crucial to establishing momentum for any host city project or bid. Governing committees understandably want their scheme to avoid becoming cost prohibitive, while meeting a city’s ambitions and the organiser’s goals.

The cost of hosting major events is increasing, and it can be hard for cities to invest in bidding or get started on the early stages of delivery. Our team will help you develop a model identifying different potential funding opportunities for the whole lifecycle, from bidding through to ensuring significant long-term benefits in line with the vision for your city.

Developing a vision that resonates with a city, its current and future needs and that excites its population, is central to the immediate and long-term success of an event. A vision that inspires is the result of conversation and collaboration, wide stakeholder engagement and an honest, clear reckoning about what the ambition should be.

We get to know a city and its people. We take time to understand the aspirations and constraints that will shape the bid and a successful scheme.

Using a range of digital tools, research and in-person engagement we work with a city and its leaders and communities, to understand the needs, challenges and potential of a city, to help craft a vision and compelling narrative that can help achieve the support of the whole population.

In today’s media context, the task of making the case for your city can be hard. You have to anticipate where support and opposition might come from, build a long-term campaign that works across analogue, digital and social channels, to align policy, communications and marketing to really get the whole city on board. Ultimately, we help clients to articulate why the city put its hand up in the first place.

Find out how we helped shape a long-term legacy for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games

Read about designing an Olympic Games that gives back to the community

How to design, plan an achieve an enduring legacy from major event programmes – read our playbook

Our city partners often describe us as ‘the team behind the team’. This refers to the way we embed delivery teams alongside and integrated with the city leaders and staff, introducing governance, processes and tools to help deliver host city commitments and ambitions, while keeping a city meeting its day-to-day responsibilities. Not only is this efficient, it also builds knowledge, capacity and confidence that city directors and their teams take into future programmes and ongoing improvements.

Our support covers all of the relevant host city responsibilities, from major venue and infrastructure works to communications and stakeholder engagement in the harshest spotlight the city has probably ever experienced. From the complexities of permitting and licencing to city dressing and legacy. By walking in the shoes of our partners, our team can quickly take on projects and tasks to alleviate pressure and maximise the opportunity, from organising a baton relay to developing accessibility guidelines. 

Read about our awarding-winning partnership with Birmingham City Council to support the effective hosting of the Commonwealth Games

Hosting a major global event is often a brilliant opportunity to invest in transport improvements that a city and region will value for decades to come. Our transport planning teams span every mode and understand how to invest in and design upgrades in physical infrastructure and operational systems that will facilitate global visitors and benefit local communities and businesses.

Read the announcement of our role designing the new Brisbane Metro project, which will support the hosting of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Learn about our modelling of the transport requirement and impact of the London 2012 Games

Learn more about our transport planning expertise

Arup brings world renowned excellence in venue design. We also understand that performance and long-term use and viability are just as essential as the structure and form of the facilities. We focus on energy efficient, low maintenance and cost-effective facilities that will have enduring value to local communities. Cost, quality and ongoing operational efficiency are central to the virtues of the design. You don’t always need to build brand new. Increasingly we are advising cities on the retrofit and adaptation of existing venues and use of temporary structures to reduce costs and increase sustainability. Today, venues offer a great opportunity to adopt circular economy design principles and employ a design for reuse approach throughout venue development.

Learn more about our sports architecture experience

Read about our work to ensure “no white elephants” for London 2012

Explore our innovative design work on the sustainable and flexible King Abdullah Sports City, Saudi Arabia

Many major global events are now multi-city and even multi-country, to share costs and widen the opportunities for cities, sponsors and spectators or participants.

While this shared site approach expands national interest, there is also a risk that it dilutes the investment in long-term benefit and reduces the public support for hosting an event in their city or country. Our host city planning teams work with governing bodies, organising committees and host cities to build the economic case for making the most of this moment to define and achieve shared, meaningful value. This could include progress on priorities such as employment and business opportunities, sports and cultural engagement, tourism and trade, or infrastructure improvements.

Improving the host city bargain

Arup’s economics planning team specialises in both macro and local financial planning and can help cities to build on local strengths, boost the local economy long-term and expand employment opportunities for surrounding communities. Importantly, events are always a catalyst for change, often providing a ten-year or longer development window for valuable regeneration or infrastructure development that a city will need for the event and beyond.

We also work with ministries, city governments and public agencies to capture approaches, recommendations and lessons learned during and post-event. This ensures that the wave of professionals we upskill and support to deliver an event can carry forward international best practice into the major projects their city or country may need to deliver in future.

Learn about our masterplanning for a sport and leisure destination in North London

Read about the positive economic impact of the Singapore Sports Hub

Host cities and governing bodies need any major event to fit within their wider net zero goals. Climate positivity and long-term venue, infrastructure and community resilience can be achieved but requires specialist support and technical insight to achieve. Arup’s climate services team approach this as an achievable layer of any partnership and use it to guide the wider programme in a context-sensitive way.

We assess the event’s strategy, energy consumption, travel emissions, catering, waste and transportation to help achieve the ISO 20121 certification (the international standard for sustainable events management) and deliver a carbon-neutral/positive event with sustainability at its heart. Our clients also benefit from our longstanding partnerships with Resilience Rising, C40 Cities, Resilient City Network and our shared knowledge on how to manage and plan climate action and adaptations.

See how we designed a sustainable legacy from the bid to the delivery of the Expo 2020 Dubai 

Learn more about our carbon management plan for COP26

Explore our showcase of new sustainable approaches to cool venues in summer climates