????今天夏天將誕生人類歷史上贊助最多、開支最大、觀眾人數(shù)最多的一屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)。但背后的真實(shí)情況是什么呢？它其實(shí)意味著一座國際性都市即將重塑形象。

????預(yù)計(jì)倫敦將為今年8月舉行的2012夏季奧運(yùn)會(huì)花費(fèi)400多億美元。專家們表示，當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)濟(jì)將因此小幅下滑2%左右，此外還會(huì)出現(xiàn)短期凈虧損的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響。

????“不管是倫敦、紐約還是巴黎，這些國際性城市是否應(yīng)該舉辦奧運(yùn)會(huì)？奧運(yùn)會(huì)是否真的對(duì)它們造成了影響？對(duì)于這些問題，人們看法不一，”紐約大學(xué)（NYU）教授康斯坦丁?康托科斯塔說。“但在我看來，有一個(gè)令人信服的證據(jù)表明，那些規(guī)模較小、尚處于發(fā)展中的城市應(yīng)該主辦奧運(yùn)會(huì)?！睋Q句話說，倫敦不應(yīng)該主辦奧運(yùn)會(huì)?？低锌扑顾罱瓿闪艘黄獔?bào)告，探討了奧運(yùn)會(huì)結(jié)束之后的八年時(shí)間里會(huì)對(duì)主辦城市的房地產(chǎn)市場產(chǎn)生哪些影響。

????那么，霧都是否后悔申辦奧運(yùn)會(huì)呢？并非如此。紐約大學(xué)的另一位學(xué)者、體育營銷教授鮑勃?柏蘭德在上個(gè)月前往倫敦，對(duì)奧運(yùn)會(huì)可能將造成哪些經(jīng)濟(jì)影響進(jìn)行了研究?！安豢煞裾J(rèn)的是，對(duì)于奧運(yùn)會(huì)可以帶來的收獲，我從來沒見過哪個(gè)國家像英國這么現(xiàn)實(shí)，”他說。“他們很清楚有什么經(jīng)濟(jì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，但他們卻只是津津樂道于暢談機(jī)遇?！?/p>

????的確，倫敦的這次機(jī)遇就是吸引新企業(yè)和新居民，同時(shí)改變形象。全世界都認(rèn)為，倫敦?fù)碛谐墒斓慕?jīng)濟(jì)和完善的金融體系，可是在那里定居、經(jīng)商則枯燥無味。不過，奧運(yùn)會(huì)擁有不可思議的社會(huì)影響力——今年夏天的這屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)超過了以往任何一屆，這得歸功于Twitter的即時(shí)性——而倫敦將會(huì)利用這個(gè)時(shí)髦因素。

????從某種程度上說，我們已經(jīng)看到倫敦在為營造其吸引力做準(zhǔn)備：他們在白金漢宮外成立了騎兵儀仗隊(duì)，還打算用市中心各處的其他活動(dòng)來作為今夏奧運(yùn)會(huì)比賽期間的余興節(jié)目，好讓觀眾們一睹倫敦的風(fēng)采（而且時(shí)機(jī)恰到好處：這將是第一屆完全用HD高清拍攝的奧運(yùn)會(huì)）?！拔以趥惗貢r(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)他們甚至通過不易察覺的方式把觀眾的注意力從比賽本身轉(zhuǎn)移到展示倫敦的當(dāng)?shù)鼗顒?dòng)上，”柏蘭德回憶說。不幸的是，尚不清楚所有這些舉措是否能帶來長遠(yuǎn)效益。可能需要多年時(shí)間才能知道，（最能為倫敦重新注入活力的）年輕專業(yè)人士和大型公司是否會(huì)被奧運(yùn)會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)播節(jié)目中的美麗鏡頭吊起胃口，最終遷往倫敦。

????譯者：千牛絮

????This summer will bring the most sponsored, most spent-on, most visited Olympics in human history. But the real story? A global city is set to re-brand itself.

????London is expected to drop more than $40 billion dollars to host the world this August, and experts suggest the local economy will suffer a slight (about 2%) negative displacement of business as a result -- in addition to a short-term net loss for economic impact.

????"There's a real divide now over whether these global cities should even host the Games -- is there truly any impact for them, the Londons, the New Yorks, the Parises?" says NYU professor Constantine Kontokosta, who recently completed a report about the effect that hosting the Olympics has on a city's housing market over the following eight years. "There's a compelling argument, to me, that these smaller, developing cities should be the ones hosting." In other words, not London.

????So does the Old Smoke regret its bid? Not hardly. Sports marketing professor Bob Boland, another NYU academic, visited London last month to research the likely economic ramifications the Olympics will have. "I've never seen a country more realistic about what they're going to get from this, less in denial," he says. "They know the economic risks, but they all keep talking about the opportunity."

????Indeed, London's opportunity here is to attract new companies, new residents, and change its image. The world sees London, with its mature economy and buttoned-up banking world, as a stodgy, unexciting place to live and do business. But the Olympic Games have incredible social power -- this summer more than ever, thanks to the instantaneous nature of Twitter -- and London will look to harness the hip factor.

????You can already see the city preparing its appeal, in a sense; they've set up horse parades outside of Buckingham Palace and other events all over the city center meant to milk the many interstitial shots that audiences will see of London in the summertime. (And good timing: This will be the first Olympics shot entirely in HD.) "I found when I was there that they are even subtly shifting focus from the actual games themselves to the local events that show London," Boland recalls. Unfortunately, the jury won't be in on whether all of this worked for quite some time. It could take years to judge whether young professionals and big businesses, the groups that could most inject life back into London's population, have their relocation appetites whetted by Olympic broadcast beauty shots.