Some hosts like Athens have aging empty venues. Barcelona hosted more than 20 years ago (1992) and set a standard for sustainable planning for the games.

Hosting the Olympics has taken its toll on some cities. While some hosts such as Athens have aging empty venues, Barcelona hosted more than 20 years ago (1992) and set a standard for sustainable planning for the games. Using their massive infrastructure efforts to do more than just host the games, they focused on what they could do afterward.

Today, they host more sporting events than ever before, are reaping the benefits of major infrastructure investments such as the waterfront redevelopment. Their marathon alone had experienced a 20% annual increase in participation for years.

Take a look at what they’ve done in this video:

Barcelona 1992

Also consider checking out the BBC short on Barcelona or official Olympic site review.