Developing a Framework for Sustainable Event Cities

This conceptual article considers meanings, and the process of attaining sustainability in eventful cities. New concepts and approaches are required to organize thoughts about, and set parameters for, discourse on sustainability in the realm of planned events. Ideas and recommendations contained in this article draw from a major research and development project in Sweden in which diverse stakeholders explicitly considered problems associated with event impact assessment and evaluation, and the roles of events in sustainable development. Conceptual foundations include organizational ecology and portfolio management. It is argued that in the sustainable event city there are dual prerequisites—to provide a supportive environment for events, and to ensure that events are a positive force across the entire agenda of policies for green and sustainable cities. A framework is presented that considers three levels of concern: individual events and the need to think beyond greening; managed portfolios of events, in which long-term sustainable growth or value is the aim; and whole populations of events that must remain healthy. An action plan is proposed, indicating how events and the events sector can become a positive force for sustainable cities.