MIRACLE URBANIZATION : Spatial Production and Political Legitimation in the Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022 Olympics

Source abstract

Abstract From desert ski resorts to subtropical Winter Games, there is a global proliferation of ‘mission‐impossible’ mega‐projects. The prevailing frameworks of city branding and urban entrepreneurism fail to explain the political logics behind these seemingly irrational projects. To address this gap, we advance the concept of ‘miracle urbanization’ to explain how authoritarian‐leaning regimes deploy mega‐events tied to rapid, large‐scale urban transformations that defy conventional limits for the purpose of legitimizing and consolidating charismatic authorities. Through a comparative analysis of the 2014 and 2022 Winter Olympics and longitudinal fieldwork (Sochi 2007–2017; Beijing/Zhangjiakou 2017–2024), we explore three defining features of miracle urbanization: aspiration as a strategic objective to manufacture consent for extraordinary state intervention; exception as a governance mechanism to bypass normative constraints; and Potemkinism as a contradictory aftereffect that showcases real progress while obscuring systematic neglect. By recentring coercive statecraft and charismatic legitimation, this article challenges neoliberal readings of mega‐events and extends debates on urban authoritarianism, post‐neoliberal governance, and comparative urbanism. Miracle urbanization offers a toolkit for understanding the endless global appetite for spectacular state‐led projects in an era of democratic backsliding and ascendant authoritarianism.