The Olympic Games have emerged as a significant catalyst of urban change and can act as a key instrument of urban policy for their host cities. This paper reviews the effect of the Games on the built environment of the various cities which have acted as hosts in the modern Olympic period (1896-1996) and assesses the preparations now being made for the Games in Sydney in the year 2000. The review indicates that the Games have been increasingly used as a trigger for a wide range of urban improvements, although there have been considerable variations in the scale of infrastructural investment and in the public-private sector mix.