Unemployment in Barcelona was reduced significantly from 18.4 per cent to 9.6 per cent between 1986 and 1992 and from 20.9 per cent to 15.5 per cent in the country as a whole. Overall growth in Barcelona is said to have increased at a pace never seen before, even a decade after hosting the Games.
Similarly, the Sydney Olympic Games which took place in 2000 were planned in such a way as to generate positive spin-offs well beyond the actual event. In the case of Sydney, city planners focused on infrastructural development of the venues for the games such that these venues could be used for  2  BIS Review 27/2007  subsequent sporting events.