With the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off, millions of soccer fans around the world will be following the tournament taking place across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Like other mega sporting events, the World Cup requires major public investment and regulatory changes. To meet FIFA's requirements, Toronto, Vancouver and other North American cities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, suspended bylaws and reorganized infrastructure to stage just a handful of matches each.
Municipal governments are often slow to act on changes residents demand. However, hosting mega-events like the World Cup reveals that it is not always financial and legal constraints that cause municipal inaction, and that the reasons cities routinely cite are often political choices.
It turns out that when municipal governments want to act, they can move quickly.
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