LA28 Olympics: Equity in the Mix

California has been a world leader since its statehood was established in 1850. In the intervening 174 years, the state has contributed innumerable assets and values to local, regional, national, and international cultures, enhancing the lives of billions of people and providing an almost unlimited array of avenues to personal and professional success for its residents. The forthcoming Olympics, set to take place in Los Angeles (LA) from July 14 through 30, 2028, offer yet another opportunity for the Golden State to demonstrate its capacities for innovation, rejuvenation, and leadership.

However, having the facilities for such a grandiose event is not the only benefit that California offers these Olympics. The state is also focused on utilizing those assets to improve and maximize its unique constellation of equity initiatives as well, to ensure that all attendees – athletes, support staff, visitors, and spectators – receive the best Olympic experience possible. By concentrating development and implementation efforts on both the sport and the human elements of these Games, California as a state – and LA as the host city – intends to embrace the whole of humanity within this unique and truly global experience.

The Golden State Delivering

On many fronts, California is already prepared for the upcoming sporting extravaganza. As a political entity, the state leads not just the U.S. but also the world in its foresight for and nurturing of equitable growth:

• It boasts an unparalleled healthcare system that provides care for all lower-income residents, regardless of their age, condition, or immigration status.
• It expands the federal SUN Bucks program to ensure that all children receive food assistance through the summer months when schools – and their publicly supported lunchrooms – are closed.
• It recently enacted a constitutional amendment that expanded family planning protections to guarantee reproductive freedom for all residents and healthcare clinic safety for the medical professionals providing those services.

Not least, and of significant financial importance, California also hosts the home bases for the most Fortune 500 companies in the country (and 35 of the world’s 50 top AI enterprises, among many others), which gives it an unmatched and exceedingly advantageous economic foundation.

The state is also deeply invested in enriching its core infrastructure and is using the Games as an inspiration and impetus to move those improvement efforts forward. In May 2024, the state’s Transportation Agency (CalSTA) reported progress toward its $40 billion (state and federal funds) investment in state-wide transportation improvements, including bridgework overhauls, public transport systems, and electric vehicle industry expansions. In its announcement, CalSTA reiterated California’s ‘people-first’ mission and its four core priorities of safety, climate action, economic prosperity, and equity, all of which are foundational to its decisions and the actions it takes to accomplish those goals.

Even before its selection as Olympic host site and as an independent state boasting the world’s fifth-largest economy, California led the world in its commitment to improving the fundamental situations of its communities and residents.

LA’s Athletic and Urban Infrastructure

Despite the challenges it’s currently managing (an aging water system, significant traffic congestion, and swelling energy demands, to name just three), LA remains an exceptionally well-developed Olympic Games venue. Facilities created for the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics continue to host sporting and entertainment events, providing the community with unparalleled resources for both fun and financial gain.

Further, as the 2028 Games’ host city, LA is already ahead on its development curve and is busy retrofitting its previous Olympic venues to meet the demands of today’s sporting specifications. Existing and available sporting facilities designed for local and regional use will be co-opted for the Olympic purpose, expanding the scope of the city’s effort and maximizing its current asset values. Utilizing existing resources has eliminated the need to build more, so, for the first time ever, the Olympic host city will not be adding any new permanent venues to its roster of event sites. By embracing and enhancing existing assets, the city is saving the millions of dollars typically used for new asset development while also aligning itself with the sustainability goals of the International Olympic Committee.

In all, when the Games finally launch, more than 80 individual venues across the LA basin will be featured as Olympic sites, showcasing more than 50 sports, more than 800 events, and over 3,000 hours of live sporting action.

LA28: A Study in Olympic Equity

Equally important to the LA Olympic developers is the embrace and advancement of equitable principles and activities within all of their efforts. To further these discussions and ensure that all progress is equitably fruitful, organizers are working with experts from RAND, a research-based non-profit dedicated to improving policymaking through research and analysis. The RAND group prepared numerous studies for prior Olympic games, including those in London and Paris (each of which is a three-time Olympic host), and has shared those reports with the LA Olympic group.

Using the RAND evidence-based strategy, the LA Olympic committee is pursuing stakeholder conversations that provide relevant information and data upon which to ground their policy and financial decisions. The RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy partnered with professionals from the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles and the Urban Land Institute Los Angeles to finetune their questions related to equity, sport, and community, believing that the Games themselves are more successful when the host community also benefits from them in the long term. These discussions were comprehensive, highlighting the diversity of LA’s many unique neighborhoods and populations, acknowledging the challenges posed to its marginalized communities, and exploring the impact the Games would have on local and regional industries.

Consequently, at this moment in time with the Games just four years away, LA and California are well on their way to hosting yet another unique and innovative sporting extravaganza that embraces the best of its assets – geographical, recreational, and human.