Research on Large-scale Sports Events and the Construction of City Image

Taking the 2025 Chengdu Asian Games as an Example

Abstract

With the evolution of the global urbanization process, major sports events have transcended their original arena status and evolved into strategic engines for urban space production, symbol reconfiguration, and image governance. The 15th National Games (referred to as the "15th Games") in 2025 was jointly held by the three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. This not only represents an institutional innovation in China's sports history but also constitutes a "grand narrative" for the collaborative construction of the image of the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration. This paper, based on the theory of space production and the perspective of urban communication, deeply analyzes the internal mechanism by which large-scale sports events drive the construction of urban image. The research finds that the 15th Games effectively promoted the paradigm shift of the city identification system through the re-creation of physical space as a landscape, the mediaization of cultural symbols, and the window display of governance effectiveness. This paper not only focuses on the instantaneous image shaping during the event preparation period but also emphasizes the long-term communication strategies for regional image communities in the post-Games era. The research aims to provide theoretical support for empowering cities with high-quality development through large-scale events and to offer practical paths for cross-regional collaborative construction of urban images under the national strategy.