Mega events are accelerators of urban transformation with lasting effects on urban environments. In the spotlight of the spectacle these crucial factors are often ignored, deliberately underestimated or underreported. They pertain every aspect of urban living, making mega-events more than instances of ambitious overspending, but ruptures in the established modes of urban production amplifying social and political inequalities. In this volume, authors with different perspectives and from different geographies and disciplines are gathered to create a unique reflection on mega-events at the intersection of culture, sports, planning and politics. Starting from the case of Tokyo 2020, the contributors bring about planetary trajectories of urban transformation today from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.