CHICAGO - Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics is backed by the world's most powerful man, US President Barack Obama, but the city is hoping its lakeside "playground" will help seal the deal.

Banners and flags supporting the bid lined the streets of the Windy City as Obama prepared to fly in to Copenhagen for the final push ahead of Friday's vote by International Olympic Committee members.

The Obamas, whose Chicago home is just blocks from some of the proposed sites, will lead a star-studded delegation, which includes gold-medalist gymnast Nadia Comaneci and talk show giant Oprah Winfrey.

"Chicago is ready. The American people are ready. We want these Games," Obama said at an elaborate event staged earlier this month on the White House lawn dedicated to the Olympics, Paralympics and youth sport.

The bid's biggest strength is the network of historical parks and ample existing sports venues which line the shore of Lake Michigan and dot the midwestern city, said Chicago 2016 bid chief Pat Ryan.

"We're blessed with this incredible playground for celebration of sport and culture because we have this beautiful lakefront and parks where we have sport and culture all integrated," Ryan said in a recent interview.

"That is really very unique."

The compact plan allows for 85 percent of all sport competitions to take place within an eight kilometer Olympic Ring. Most events will be held in existing or temporary facilities, lessening the costs and environmental impact.

The Olympic village is at the focus of the ring, which means 90 percent of the athletes would be no more than 15 minutes away from their competition and training facilities.

Athletes will also enjoy a private beach, an open-air amphitheater for concerts and fully-accessible apartments with balconies overlooking the lake.

Chicago's environmental leadership plan includes a focus on protecting water resources and finding innovative ways to reduce waste such as transforming temporary arena seats into wheelchairs.

Obama's change of heart and decision to fly into Copenhagen and bid for the Games could lead to a new groundswell of support but a recent poll found local support waning.

The survey by the Chicago Tribune showed that 45 percent of residents didn't want the games and 84 percent disapproved of the use of public money.

Chicagoans are concerned about cost overruns in a city which has had more than its share of economic problems and corruption scandals.

One group, No Games Chicago, says the city should be spending its money on better hospitals, housing, schools and transports and has taken its concerns to IOC leaders.

"The 2016 bid has been the wrong project for the wrong city at the wrong time," spokesman Tom Tresser wrote in a recent opinion piece in which he called the bid a "freight train of financial and environmental disaster."

While it would be a first for Chicago, the 2016 Games would be the ninth time that the United States has hosted the Olympics.

France, with five games, is the only other country to have hosted the Olympics more than three times. Concerns about unequal distribution could help Rio de Janeiro's bid to bring the Olympics to South America for the first time.

Tokyo, meanwhile, is bidding to bring the games back to the Japanese capital for the second time since 1964 while a win for Madrid would be Spain's second Olympics.