Mega Events, Public Space, and Sustainable Urban Futures in the Gulf, the Global South, and Beyond

Mega events such as the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups, and World Exposhave become powerful urban catalysts, reshaping entire city regions through major investments in infrastructure, mobility, and public space. In the context of accelerating urbanisation, particularly across the Gulf and the Global South, these projects compress planning into short timeframes and mobilise vast financial resources. While such investments can promote urban greening, civic pride, and regeneration, they also risk producing uneven legacies, displacement, and environmentally fragile outcomes. Recent debates in urban sustainability emphasise the need to understand how these events transform everyday public life, long-term spatial equity, and environmental resilience. Despite the growing body of research on event legacy, there remains limited systematic exploration of how event-led development intersects with broader social, ecological, and public space dynamics across diverse global contexts.This Research Topic aims to critically examine the relationship between mega events, public space, and sustainable urban futures through comparative, theoretical, and empirical lenses. It seeks to assess how event-led urbanism can foster inclusive, liveable, and climate-responsive cities, and under what political, social, and design conditions this transformation occurs. The Research Topic invites authors to unpack questions such as: How do mega events translate into enduring public space value and social inclusion? What governance frameworks ensure equitable urban legacy? How do event-related infrastructures and narratives shape post-event trajectories of sustainability, identity, and belonging? By addressing these questions, the goal is to advance strategies that move beyond short-term spectacle toward long-term environmental and social resilience, providing insights for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars of sustainable urbanism.To gather further insights into event-led urban transformation in rapidly developing global contexts, this Research Topic welcomes interdisciplinary contributions from fields including urban studies, sustainability science, architecture, geography, and planning. The focus is especially on the Gulf and the Global South, but comparative perspectives from other regions are equally valued.We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Climate and environmental sustainability in event-driven urban development• Social inclusion, equity, and everyday urban life during and after mega events• Infrastructure, public space, and long-term urban futures• Urban temporalities, heritage, and narratives of aspiration and failure• Governance, participation, and the right to the city in event planning and legacy• Comparative insights into event-led regeneration and sustainable post-event transitionsAppendix: We welcome a range of article types including Original Research, Review, Policy and Practice Reviews, Perspective, and Case Studies. Topic editors: Simona Azzali, Friederike Trotier, Thulisile Ncamsile Mphambukeli Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81695/mega-events-public-space-and-sustainable-urban-futures-in-the-gulf-the-global-south-and-beyond