Isles of wonder: London's identity expression to the world

The hosting of mega-events is an endeavor sought by cities and nations the world-over. These mega-events allow even participants an opportunity to express their identity or national narrative, but provide a special platform to the expression of identity to the rest of the world. However, the formation and expression of this identity can be problematic. While mega-events have a sense of internationalism to them, they also have strong nationalistic motivations. These nationalistic motivations encourage nations to over looks financial risks and challenges in the hopes of obtaining both financial and cultural awards in addition to increase prestige amongst the global community. Understanding what a host nation expresses to the world, and how that message is formed, can offer insights and the start of research to make the process of identity expression more effective, and thus more profitable both financially and culturally to host nations.