When Rio was chosen in '09 as the first South American city to host the Olympics, Brazil’s then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva "effused about how the games would usher in a new golden age for Rio," according to Samantha Pearson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Naturally, the decision had property execs "salivating at the prospect of a bonanza of residential and commercial developments." As Brazil has "sunk into its worst recession in more than a century," however, many people are not only asking whether the Games’ R$40B ($11.6B) price tag is "justified, but also whether they will deliver a legacy of improved transport and residential infrastructure when the games have gone." Hosting the games "is a risk for any country but even more so for developing nations," says Professor Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College in Massachusetts, whose book Circus Maximus looks at the "economic gamble" of hosting the football World Cup, which Brazil did in '14, and the Olympic Games. Zimbalist said, "It requires extraordinarily effective planning, which is difficult in the best of circumstances and almost impossible in an emerging country, especially one that has a dysfunctional political system, which Brazil has." In the case of Rio, at least the Olympic venues are "set to be ready on time." The Olympic Park, which is "expected to house schools and private developments after the games, is 98 percent completed." A series of new highways and a light railway line "are also nearly ready." Private property developers have "more cause for pessimism as demand for residential and commercial space has slumped in the recession." Rio property broker Ulisses Conceição Chagas said, "There is a crisis of confidence in the market" (FT, 5/10).
