Destiny on a deadline

development > listening post

DESTINY ON A

DEADLINE

BY AYSWARYA MURTHY

Leader of PwC’s Global Cities and Local Government Network Sector Hazem Galal says mega events, if done right, can act as a catalyst for development of the host city and transformation of the lives of its citizens.

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t does says something about the significance of Qatar on the global development map when a global leader who works with city governments and the private sector from around the world to revitalise or kick-start economies chooses to be based in Doha. Hazem Galal, who was previously based in Rio and has barely been in Doha for a year, is very excited about the big changes in the works and the “reforms that are going to enhance the services delivered to the citizens in healthcare, education and mobility”. In addition to working with the public sector and Qatar Foundation here, Galal’s global portfolio means working on understanding and anticipating future opportunities with local governments and businesses in cities as farflung as Astana, Beijing and Sochi.

Notice a trend? It’s no coincidence that all these cities have hosted, or are about to host, one of the big three mega events – the Olympics (Winter/Summer), the FIFA World Cup and the World Expo – that often serve as catalysts for economic development and regeneration. And the deadlines don’t hurt, either. For example, one of the projects he led in Rio in connection with the 2016 Olympics was to help the investment-attraction authorities of the city identify the economic opportunities in tourism. “It’s hard to believe that a country like Brazil with its Amazon cover, waterfalls and beaches barely manages five million foreign tourists a year (when Dubai attracts 15 million a year). So in this case, the Olympics are being used as an economic stimulus to breathe life into some of the underdeveloped sectors,” he says.

What might appear as polar opposites, Brazil and Qatar each have their unique challenges and advantages in getting their respective events off the ground. Curious to know Galal’s impressions, we ask him to compare the ground realities in the two countries. Is it easier for the samba-loving developing Latin American country to put on a good show compared with the wealthy Middle Eastern desert state? “You would think the decision-making cycle is quicker and more efficient in Brazil,” Galal replies when asked if the democratic state gets things done faster. “But any project in Brazil, by the time it goes through the public sector procurement cycle, agility, budgeting and all that, takes more than 1218 months. Here in Qatar, even when things are slow for one reason or the other, you can get work done within a six- to eight-month window. That’s what I have seen during my stay here.”

“Though it can go quicker still,” he adds as an afterthought.

Also, Qatar is in the unique position of having almost 12 years to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. “This is unprecedented.

For a lot of these mega events you typically get anywhere between six to seven years.

Though this certainly is an advantage, giving Qatar a lot more time to plan, execute and deliver, there is a possibility that some of the technology that you are locking yourself in today at the planning stages may not be state-of-the-art at the time of the event,” Galal points out.

Another glaring difference is in funding.

“Brazil still has to deal with a lot of inequality, and we have been seeing that in the last few months, when the average Brazilian citizen demanded that the government invest just as much in healthcare, education and transportation as they are doing in World Cup infrastructure. The lack of these kinds of financial restrictions and inequalities here means that Qatar doesn’t have the same prioritisation mechanism and constraints as Brazil.”

But if there’s one thing that Qatar can pick up from the 2014 World Cup host on the other side of the globe, it’s enterprise.

“The private sector in Brazil has been around longer and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a higher contribution to the economy (though not in the same league as countries like South Korea) than in Qatar. Some of the states in Brazil like Rio have discovered large deep-sea deposits of hydrocarbons, but we advised them that despite this additional revenue they ought to maintain the momentum of their highly

It’s always important to remind yourself: 'Why did we host this event?

What are the long term objectives we are hoping to get?' If you are planning the legacy in advance, are you really clear on how the infrastructure and programmes are going to impact the population after the event? – then you will be successful.

diversified economy and support high-value-added sectors like innovation and ICT. Qatar, though, is yet to develop its private sector,” he adds.

Shaping the legacy These events are not just about their short duration: they can have a long-term and far-reaching impact with the proper vision.

“It’s always important to remind yourself: 'Why did we host this event? What are the long-term objectives we are hoping to get?'

If you are planning the legacy in advance, are you really clear on how the infrastructure and programmes are going to impact the population after the event? – then you will be successful,” Galal reminds us, citing the example of East London. “There were statistics published prior to the London Olympics that showed that the further you travelled away from the wealthy London suburbs to the east, the lower the life expectancy fell. If you go right now to where the Olympic Village used to be, it’s very different from what it was, and is still in the process of change, part of a long-term plan that’ll be completed by 2030. These games in effect revitalised the whole society in addition to the entire area where the Games were held,” he says.

In Brazil, too, the legacy of the two mega events, the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, is starting to become clear. “Some areas of the city of Rio were no-go zones for policemen. A few of these zones were around the perimeter of Maracana Stadium, and you can’t really have a World Cup final in an area where drug lords are in control. Consequently, the pacification campaign was started, which was well received by the community. The police have come in, stayed and built their presence.

That is a fact!”

But it doesn’t end there. In fact, that is just a beginning. “Now that the population of these areas has law and order, they expect other services. They want jobs, now that the living provided by illegal activities from drug dealers is no longer an option. So if you don’t start replacing these with legal economic activities, the clean-up would have all been in vain. Regardless, it is a great start and might not have happened if they weren’t subjected to the scrutiny of the world.”

There are some bad examples too, a few in Brazil itself, and Galal blames them on a sense of procrastination and bureaucratic delays. “A lot of the decisions that should have been made by the government at the federal level were delayed, and they have to QATAR TODAY > FEBRUARY 2014 > 35

AFP PHOTO/CHRISTOPHE SIMOM

AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA

development > listening post

Rio's Pacification programme ahead of the World Cup has improved law and order situation in volatile parts of the city; Allegations of corruption and mismanagement marred the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010; Galal hopes an active lifestyle will become a way of life for Qataris as a legacy of the World Cup; The London Olympics served to revive whole neighbourhoods in East London;

“The infrastructure is really the easy part. It is important because it’s what people see.

But I think it’s with the soft infrastructure byproducts of the World Cup 2022 that you can change the nation.”

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AFP PHOTO/ODA/Anthony Charlton/HO

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catch up. Some of the airports might not be ready in time. The auction of the Rio airport was won just two months ago ( jointly by Changi, who operate the Singapore airport) and this is at least a year too late. There definitely will be some improvements made in the few weeks left, but let’s not forget about the Magic Triangle – quality, cost and time.

So the more you run out of time, the more it’s going to cost you to fix a problem and you might have to sacrifice the legacy you are hoping to create,” he says.

A few thousand miles south-east of Brazil, an instance in South Africa reminds countries to think about the legacy in an integrated way and not just solutions that you are going to use only during the World Cup. “Pretoria started a train service before the event connecting Johannesburg and the airport. But at Pretoria itself, there are no additional linkages to public transport system. So they have only created one part of the piece. That’s why we always encourage governments to think long-term, about how the population in the city and visitors are going to use this afterwards,” says Galal.

A big event will give you visibility and branding but it’s a double-edged sword, he says. “For example, the Commonwealth Games in India. The delays, allegations of corruption and the way the event was executed was very negative publicity for New Delhi.” They would have been better off not holding the event at all.

So far, Qatar is on the right track and there is still time to think about and plan the legacy of the 2022 World Cup, he says. “We already have the Qatar National Vision, so

all the mega projects (airport, metro, roads) are needed and will go on regardless of the World Cup. What the event has done is given a deadline and advanced several projects like the New Port project,” he says.

But the 2022 World Cup is a chance for Qatar to do so much more. “Qatar has one of the highest rates in the world for diabetes. People don’t have a healthy lifestyle in terms of physical activities, partly because of the weather and partly because there is no exercise culture. What if the legacy can be the change in the mindset of the population? Not just confining it to the one annual Sports Day but making it a part of your people’s daily life and behaviour.”

Another long-term effect of the World Cup could be instilling environmental consciousness into the citizens. “Qatar, in a bid to fulfil its promise of hosting a carbon neutral World Cup, is developing new technologies for renewable energy and propelling research on zero-emission stadiums.

But the country also has the highest carbon footprint per person in the world. So more helpful would be to reinforce behavioural changes related to not wasting electricity and water and make people more conscious about what it takes to save natural resources,” he says. Forget gigantic stadiums and fancy airports; what better gift can you give your people than clean and healthy living?

Galal finally says what’s generally been left unsaid: “The infrastructure is really the easy part. It is important because it’s what people see. But I think it’s with the soft infrastructure by-products of the event that you can change the nation.”