Do People Feel Healthier After Holding Sports Mega-Events? Evidence from the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

This article examines the environmental and health impacts of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games in China, focusing on whether hosting this sports mega-event led to sustained improvements in air quality and residents' self-perceived health. Using microdata from the China Household Income Project and a time-varying difference-in-differences methodology, the study finds that the Games significantly improved self-perceived health by reducing air pollution, specifically PM2.5 concentrations, in the host and surrounding cities. The improved air quality contributed to a reduction of approximately 1.1 billion RMB in medical expenses, accounting for 2.77% of the total investment in the Games, with air pollution mitigation responsible for about 20% of these savings. The findings highlight the role of long-term, regionally coordinated environmental regulations linked to sports mega-events in generating lasting public health benefits and suggest important implications for policymakers, event organizers, and communities regarding the integration of environmental and health objectives in event planning.