Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Will Brazil Be Ready?

Rio De Janeiro – will they be ready? Photo: Commons.

The London Olympic Games set the bar for success and pageantry relatively high. With so much hype and success, the next Summer Olympic Games are already being discussed. With Rio being the first South American city to host the games, the pressure is on. Already critics are discussing the potential failures and the potential successes of an Olympic run in this host city. As pressure and speculation mounts, the question is: will Brazil be ready?

Planning

One of the crucial parts of a successful Olympic Games is to start planning early. Rio has begun to do that. They have begun planning for over two-hundred new projects including improvements to the current venues as well as the creation of all knew. Over fifty of those jobs are now nearing the final stages of completion, but there are still concerns about whether the others will. Many are not even going to be considered done until 2015 and this has some planners worried.

Budget

Though plans for the Rio Olympic adventure may appear as if they could regain control, there are great concerns about the amount of money being spent. The finances are being stretched to capacity for these Olympic Games with no real understanding of whether or not it will pay off. Currently, the committee has set a price tag of just over 14 billion dollars, a mark that is expected to be surpassed soon. This has only worked to heighten the concerns of the citizens of the country and the world Olympic watchers as well.

Movement

Anyone who has travelled to Rio knows that overcrowding is a serious issue and concern. The area is ripe with tourists being pushed about and crowded streets with locals. This lack of fluidity in movement has only served to be an additional source of concern. As a result, the government and Olympic committee have worked to put large investments into renovating this problem area. The problem is, though, that progress and slow and many of the transit investments are not looking like they will be near completion.

Concerns and More

There are many other concerns that Rio is facing as they plan their Olympic Games, and the displacement of locals is a major concern. Another is that the facilities will have a limited shelf life of use and this can be damaging to an often struggling economy. Only time will tell if this Olympic experience will surpass expectations or live down to them. Predictions, however, are not looking great.