The topics talk about a city of samba, football and beaches in its majestic sambadromes, Maracanã stadium or the Copacabana promenade, but the carioca city is much more.

In Rio 2016 more than 10,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees are expected for a total of 42 sports, including for the first time rugby 7 and golf competitions and taking in four distinct areas of the city: Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã.

The city branding recreating in the Olympic Games 2016 tries conceptualize passion and the transformation of the city in a brand that has to represent unity and optimism.

Museu do Amanhã, Santiago Calatrava

Seeking to be original, the agency Tátil succeeded in uniting more than 40 professionals (planners, designers and editors) in the phase of a creative project that showed the collaborative effort of a team based on the values that were offered to the city.

In response to this primary brainstorming a “human” brand as a result of the fusion of different ethnicities, religions and generations was launched, which is the result of the carioca nature and Olympic spirit.

To demarcate this concept in the beauty of the urban landscape certain colors have been used in very concrete ways. Yellow symbolizes the sun and heat, blue for the water around us and green for forests and the hope that is the positive vision of this brand identity, contextualized in the shape of Sugarloaf Mountain, an image showing joy, celebration and friendship.

Conceptualization of the Rio 2016 logo

And there is not Olympic event without their mascots in this case are Vinicius and Tom, in honor of Brazilian musicians Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim.

Vinicius and Tom

In order to improve Rio de Janeiro sustainability during the Olympic Games each of the operations carried out will be analyzed: works, volunteers, transport, food and drink, in order to minimize the impact of every visit that the city will receive.

An example that  the organization sets is the case of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, where water conditions were monitored every morning, in the area of competition as the surroundings, preventing leaks, ensuring the cleanliness and respecting the flora and fauna, including the protection of the famous “Quero-Quero,” the bird local landmark.

Cleaning Rodrigo de Freitas lake before competition

Another example of sustainable development is to adapt the facilities to the elderly, pregnant women, the disabled citizens or people with reduced mobility. It ensures that all sporting events are accessible on the premises, car parks and other demarcated areas. The goal, anyhow, is that with the completion of the Olympic Games, Rio can also enjoy a legacy adapted to everyone and a modern image change that an important city like this needed to be at the forefront of urban humanization.

On the other hand, to make civil society more inclusive in Rio de Janeiro Project, new topics have been opened participating the neighbors as transparency, accessibility, protection of children or urban mobility, for example. Among the major projects that will take place in 2016, we can highlight “Transforma” (education), “Sobre Rodas” (accessibility) or the “Green Passport” (environment) in which will involve, in addition to citizens and volunteers Municipal Olympic Company, the Civil House of Rio de Janeiro and the Ministry of Sports.

Citizen participation in the Rio project

“Sobre Rodas” Project participants

In short, Rio will lay on the table a set of social actions that go beyond a simple facelift of the city and represent a radical change of the urban environment: 80% reuse of material infrastructure, overall reduction of carbon emissions, recycling cooperatives.

And as we enter 2016 and times have changed, Rio de Janeiro wants to show the world that it is a tolerant, diverse and open city. In his role around diversity and inclusion, Rio 2016 goes beyond a simple statement of principles and also opens the door to dialogue to sectors affected by the exclusion in Brazil, focusing on teams in discussions of gender, LGBT rights or the integration of the Rio black population in the project.

But is it easy to implement a global project? We all know that the organization and execution of a mega-sporting event requires a unique logistical complexity and a great political coalition. A lot of urban development projects involving an increase in public investment often encounter strong opposition. In this case of Rio and other cities, it seems that the Olympic system legitimizes everything. However, this “everything’s fair” of Olympic cities is facing serious contradictions as to meet the demands of the city and its inhabitants.

This contradiction between local demand and the Olympic demand, which need not be contradictory, in emerging countries clashes as three crucial factors like easy availability of resources, the ambition to strengthen its international image and weakness in many cases of its own institutions to protect human rights and the environment.

In this particular área, Brazil, as an emerging economy, has had to create a special framework to facilitate decision-making and in this case the contracts between parties were more binding than the rule itself. For local governments as Rio they have also developed master plans to authorize the works to private actors themselves, something that had already been carried out in municipal preparations of this and other Brazilian cities to be delegated the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Rio 2016 facilities

In addition to these administrative matters, there is a greater scourge with which Latin America has to fight and Rio is no stranger. Until relatively recently the city had three murders a day and with the robberies did this Brazilian paradise, a place not recommended for tourism. Aware of this, the organization of the Olympics doubled the number of security forces with respect to London 2012.

Logically, security measures are a patch to a deeper problem that are social inequalities: not everything that is reported in the Western media tell the reality of Rio. Approximately more than 8,000 families living in the slums had to be withdrawn from their neighborhoods and settled in other areas to accommodate the Olympic project. The exile when is forced is not welcome and that is why many protests were held in the streets against a local government that benefits private interests rather than needs of the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Protest against violence in Copacabana

To this must be added the energy problems and schedule of the works to approximate date; they have not finished as the deadline the velodrome, the tennis center or the aquatic park.

Despite doubts about the success of this mega sports and cultural event, Rio de Janeiro will make an outstanding job, as other Olympic cities. Brazil was already in 2014 on the spotlight for the World Cup and finally was successful. The challenge is not that the Olympic and Paralympic Games are correct, but the city can capitalize in the short and  the long term this huge investment.

The Brazilian economy is suffering and may increase its debt after the Games, but the qualitative value and urban identity of Rio de Janeiro will be strengthened and the following years will be the responsibility of the government to be a leader in the southern hemisphere with a profitable, secure and innovative urban brand.

Azebaijan capital returns to be protagonist this year to host what is expected as a sports star event in Europe: The European Games in its very first edition.

The city has changed, it has been remodeled and has evolved. Baku has 13 transportation projects and upgrading subway is expected to be open for the Games. The renovated Heydar Aliyev Airport of Baku also plans to open route with 50 cities of over 22 countries, making reference destination for transition of the Transcaucasian area, all thanks to the shot in the arm that was in its past moment the candidacy of  Baku 2020 for summer Olympics, a real project of synergies and renovation of the city.

Map Project Baku Olympic Village

It is not just a matter of Azerbaijan has attracted a lot of foreign investment last decade or even the Olympic spirit has begun in his previous bid large projects to change the skyline of this city, but is also behind a real declaration of intent on turning Baku into a more European capital, although it is the easternmost country of political Europe. We remember that Azerbaijan is geographically divided between the two continents, like Turkey.

The European Olympic Committees bring together 50 countries with a major sporting power and whose official headquarters was in Rome since 1968. These committees had a role until now symbolic and it is expected to achieve with Baku 2015 the same than other groups of continental Olympic committees, right on the world region than has most advanced in integration.

His staging of course is a major international call to other neighboring countries of the old continent to visit Baku and to encourage their sports federations in the categories, in addition to that, they are more minority and that without a exhibition, such as the Olympic promotions, they would not have the media coverage and public funding such as these.

The June 12, 2015 everything has to be ready and prepared including new facilities such as the National Stadium in Baku , National Gymnastics Arena or the Aquatic Center and other facilities.

The application of the corporate image is provided by the agency SomeOne a British study that already had its Olympic debut in London last year and applied the official logo of Baku 2015 (Adem Yunosov’s design) inspired by the millennial Azerbaijani culture and it includes:

• Flames because Azerbaijan uses this element as a national mark.
• Water considering that Baku city would not be understood as a port capital of the Caspian Sea.
• The mythical Simurgh is a benevolent flying mythological creature that represents the union between heaven and earth.
• The carpet of Azerbaijan that is part of the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2010.
• And finally the Pomegranate symbolizing fertility and abundance because 2015 Baku 2015’s ambition is “to attract people from all over Europe in a celebration of sport and create a legacy for future generations.”

Baku 2015 Logo

And of course, it is expected that two mascots have been created,  Nar, which is just an Azerbaijani Pomegranate and Jeyran the Gazelle, which are a must for the youth in the First Edition of the European Games.

Jeyran and Nar are the official  mascots of the European Games Baku 2015

The logo application evokes not only the basic colors of the Olympics but the vitality of the pomegranate tree. This product is essential for international trade of Azerbaijan and graphically a great success for neighboring countries to relate the culture of the Caucasian country with the Olympic dynamism and modernity of its forms.

Posters of the different sports categories

From all this a tremendous energy is released for the Azerbaijani neighbours who make with their capital a  benchmark in Europe, even from the other side of the Caucasus , and they feel very close.