Each time the bidding for the Olympic Games is finalized, the tension around who will end up hosting the Games is built up with enthusiasm in the potential host cities, but also followed by tons of financial estimates of costs versus benefits that this mega event will bring. 
There seems to be an attitude that the Olympic Games are expensive and unnecessary, that residents of the host cities do not even get to be in the audience because the tickets are unaffordable and that the cities lose more than they gain. And on top of everything else, the congestion that the influx of international visitors brings is stifling.
And while math is important, these opinions rarely come from actual visitors of the cities that hosted the Olympics. Cities should bid for the Olympics, not only because of the legacy that remains behind them, but because of the true short-term and long-term benefits.
The Olympic Games bring opportunities for transformation to the cities that host them. The most obvious evidence is Barcelona, the first city that used the Olympics as the chance to reinvent itself. Las Ramblas is now one of the greatest streets in the world, leading to reconstructed Port Vell. The world-famous pedestrian zone would not look the same without the 1992 Games.
Atlanta, Ga. was validated as an international city when the Centennial Olympic Games were awarded to the city in 1996. Atlanta used the opportunity as an enormous engine for growth. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose Sydney for the 2000 Olympics, and the Australians built the world’s first-ever green Olympic Village, figuring out a way to both protect the environment and earn money.
In 2004, the Olympics were back to Athens, Greece. Athens went through a major image makeover, with important infrastructure investments, and a focus on improvements to the public transportation system to resolve traffic congestion and strengthen multimodal street networks. Before the Games in 2008, the level of air pollution in Beijing significantly exceeded the World Health Organization standards, so the city used radical demand management strategies to cut the traffic and prepare to welcome the athletes in a healthier environment.
London, the host for the most recent Olympics, is one of the most visited cities in the world. It did not seem like it needs any more attention than it already gets, but the 2012 Olympics created a profound legacy of the Olympic Park on the site that was once a wasteland. According to the London Legacy Development Corporation, the Olympic Park already acts as a catalyst for regeneration for the whole East London, and major efforts are taken to transform the area into a year-round multi use venue that delivers permanent sporting, cultural and community benefits.
It is undeniable that the largest sporting event in the world comes with responsibilities. Dr. Eva Kassens-Noor from Michigan State University, who defended her dissertation on the influence of mega-events on urban changes, warns that given the high investment costs and associated risks cities should make sure to catalyze their Olympic-related endeavors towards long-term metropolitan enhancements.
Dr. Kassens-Noor showcases the IOC as an agent of urban change that has the same requirements for all host cities, but it is up to the cities themselves to create rather than squander valuable opportunities through preparing for this massive event. This is exactly what Rio de Janeiro is doing while preparing for 2016.
The development of 2,400 new housing units, 50,000 temporary and 15,000 permanent jobs, 5 billion dollars investment in transportation infrastructure, and 3.35 billion dollars for security and crime reduction are just some of the indicators from the city’s candidature file, while the main focus is on improving mobility and preserving the urban forest tradition.
So the news that went worldwide on Sept. 9 was the IOC announced that the city of Tokyo won the bid for 2020 Olympics, is good news. The opportunity already brings a boost of confidence to the nation that has struggled with tsunami and nuclear disaster, promising a major transformation point in the history of the Japanese capital.