LIVING CITIES BRINGS CAPITAL + CULTURE PLATFORM TO LOS ANGELES AHEAD OF THE WORLD CUP AND OLYMPIC GAMES
NEW YORK , NY, UNITED STATES, June 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As Los Angeles prepares to host both the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, Living Cities is bringing its Capital + Culture platform to one of the world's most influential cities to examine a defining economic question: When global attention arrives, who benefits?
The World Cup is coming. The Olympics are coming.
Billions of dollars will flow through the region. Contracts will be awarded.
Infrastructure will be built. Tourists will arrive.
Corporate sponsors will activate. Global media will descend.
The world will come to Los Angeles.
But, there is a question hiding beneath the excitement. A question that rarely appears in economic forecasts. A question that matters far more than attendance figures, hotel occupancy rates, or visitor spending projections. Who is all of this work for?
Growth and prosperity are not the same thing. Investment and ownership are not the same thing. Visibility and opportunity are not the same thing.
And history has repeatedly shown that major events can generate extraordinary value while leaving many of the communities that host them no better positioned than before.
The numbers may look impressive. The headlines may sound impressive. The economic impact reports may be impressive. Yet, entire neighborhoods can still be left asking what changed for them.
“Too often we celebrate the arrival of capital without examining where it ultimately lands,” said Joe Scantlebury, President and CEO of Living Cities. “The question isn't whether money shows up. The question is whether people have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the value it creates.”
CAPITAL + CULTURE
Through its Capital + Culture platform, Living Cities is challenging one of the most accepted assumptions in economic development: That growth automatically becomes opportunity.
History suggests otherwise.
Economic impact reports tell us how much money entered a region. They rarely tell us who gained access to it. Who received contracts? Who expanded their businesses? Who hired employees? Who built assets? Who increased ownership? Who accumulated wealth? Who moved from participation to prosperity? Those are the questions that determine whether a city merely hosted an event or leveraged it. And, nowhere are those questions more relevant than Los Angeles.
Few cities better embody the intersection of culture and capital. Few cities better understand the power of visibility. Few cities better illustrate the tension between extraordinary investment and persistent inequality.
Los Angeles has an opportunity to demonstrate what happens when global events are intentionally connected to local prosperity. Not prosperity for a few. Prosperity that is broadly shared. In many ways, that is the challenge before Los Angeles.
The world is coming.
The question is whether opportunity reaches the people who are already here. Because the true measure of success is not whether billions of dollars move through the region.
It is whether more businesses gain access.
Whether more entrepreneurs gain contracts. Whether more workers gain opportunity. Whether more families gain wealth. Whether more communities gain ownership.
“The World Cup and Olympics will come and go,” said Scantlebury. “The more important question is whether they leave behind ownership, opportunity, and wealth in the communities that made those events possible in the first place.”
Eventually the visitors will leave. The cameras will leave. The sponsors will leave. The celebration will end. What remains will be the economic legacy.
And the true measure of success will not be how much money arrived. It will be whether more people had the opportunity to benefit from it.
Los Angeles is about to host the world.
The question is whether Los Angeles will benefit from it.
ABOUT LIVING CITIES
Living Cities is an Action Engine for Equitable Cities—a member collaborative of leading philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to closing income and wealth gaps in the United States and building an economy that works for everyone.
For 35 years, Living Cities has collaboratively advanced policy and systems changes nationwide, promoting profitable and inclusive wealth-building. Living Cities addresses barriers to capital investment through knowledge sharing and collective action among its members, partners, and an extensive network of city leaders around the country. Learn more at https://bit.ly/LivingCitiesCapital-Culture.
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