“Rio 2016 buildup part of the chaotic and corrupt tradition of Olympic hosts-Preparations have often been a mess but Rio’s buildup may be the most disorderly yet – and no matter how special the Games a disaster of unprecedented proportions will have already happened”, 26 July 2016

...Rio has avoided expensive iconic architecture...set to produce fewer and less expensive white elephants than the leaders in this field, Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008)...[But]...has not...avoid[ed]... large scale corruption and forced removals...[H]istorical comparisons are kind...[T]he Porto Marvilha redevelopment of the city’s historic dock district is...home to the media village and a...technical-operations centre...enough for the programme to acquire the urgency of Olympic projects and a gigantic public–private partnership...[T]he planning and governance of the city’s largest ever development...[was handed]...to a consortium of three private construction companies...Rio...has...allow[ed]...the construction of an even more profitable residential complex around the new Olympic golf course...[A]t least is not giving us the bother of having to wait a few years before we know whether its legacies have been successful or not, because so many of the most socially useful Olympic investments promised...have already been abandoned...[T]he rapid bus transit system and perhaps the metro are permanent legacies...[but]...primarily designed to ferry rich people between rich areas. The...majority of the city’s population in...Zona Norte...will barely benefit at all...[A]s the toxic state of Guanabara Bay...makes clear, the city’s plan to renovate its sewage systems, especially in the poor areas, has been completed abandoned...