Expos, festivals and events have become increasingly important as tools of urban developmentin recent decades. The competitive drive to put cities on the global map has led many to adoptevent-based strategies, including the creation of ‘eventful cities’, ‘festival cities’ and ‘eventportfolios’. World Expos have taken on a particular significance as ‘pulsar events’ that canshape the host city through urban development, increased tourism and place branding. Eachhost city also uses the event in a different way, and gives it a unique flavour that tempers theeventual effects. This paper reviews the literature on World Expos and their effects, identifyingthemes including Place branding, Tourism flows, Resident attitudes and Architecture and urbandevelopment. It then analyses the experience of Barcelona, twofold Expo host and a‘paradigmatic’ example of a city developed through mega events.
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