spectacularization of urban spaces

interesting article by Anouk Bélanger on the Canadiens move from the Forum to the Molson Centre (now called Bell Centre), here is the abstract (link):

As global corporations scan the world for preferential locations, particular places are forced into a competitive race to attract inward investors. All of this is leading to increased global inter-urban competition around entertainment industries, where cities must reimage and reimagine themselves in order to position themselves as `world-class’. Sports stadiums and other complexes have become increasingly important in this dynamic. In this article, the shift in sports venue from the Montreal Forum to the Molson Centre is examined as a means to explore a variety of issues: the privatization and spectacularization of urban spaces, the local customization of those developments through a marketing of nostalgia, the increasing importance of sport teams and venues in investment in civic images and infrastructure.

Molson Center (1966)

Conceived during Habitat-mania, Moshe Safdie’s proposal for a recreation and entertainment center in Montreal. This was likely one of the options Molson considered when they were looking to move the Canadiens in the 1960s. Ultimately the existing Forum was renovated in 1969. How about that section?

images downloaded from the Moshe Safdie Hypermedia Archive at McGill University