2013 AND BEYOND
Stuart Watson considers the long-term legacy that could remain after the athletes have left
No Olympic host city has ever failed to deliver the Games, but providing a positive legacy has proved to be a challenge beyond many. Governments promise regeneration, economic and social benefits to offset the cost of hosting the event. However, the lasting effect of the greatest show on earth coming to town has frequently turned out to be far from such optimistic pronouncements. Under-used and costly white elephant stadiums and the displacement of the poor have been the most consistent results.
In 2004, a year before London’s bid met with success in Singapore, a report by Demos and the Institute for Public Policy Research was already warning that: “Analysis of past Olympic Games reveals that there is no guaranteed beneficial legacy from hosting an Olympic Games. And there is little evidence that past Games have delivered benefits to those people and places most in need.” Such advice has helped to sharpen the London 2012 team’s focus on the Games’ aftermath, and the London Olympics have already received an early thumbs-up from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on their legacy preparations.
When the chairman of the co-ordination commission, Denis Oswald, visited London in June to check on progress he said: “It is clear to me that London 2012 will serve as a model in this area.” Alison Nimmo, director of design and regeneration for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), says that London will put into practice the lessons learned from past Games: “We are planning the Games and legacy together. We have a no ‘white elephants’ policy that we will only build permanent venues if they have a sustainable legacy purpose. We have reconfigured the Olympic Park to better integrate it with the regeneration of Stratford, and to ensure the Park and its permanent venues are at the hub of the improvements to the area,” she claims.
Masterplan due in 2008
The ODA submitted a partial legacy scheme as part of its planning application for the Olympic Park in February 2005. However, while it outlines the fate of the sporting venues and promises green space and housing development (see box), the plan is only a skeleton framework. Indeed, the hard work in this area is only just beginning, with a legacy masterplan now in the earliest stages of preparation and due to be released in draft form in late 2008.
“The key issue is how the Olympics impacts on and changes the communities around it. It is so important that they benefit if this is to be successful,” says Peter Andrews, chief executive of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the organisation charged with delivering regeneration and growth to east London.
Throughout its construction and use – and for some time afterwards as the legacy works get underway – the Olympic Park will be surrounded by a nine-foot high security fence. When the physical barrier removed, the metaphorical wall cutting off the surrounding communities must come down, too.
Local participation is vital
Community involvement will be vital if the Games are to have a catalytic impact on regeneration projects in the surrounding areas. In May this year, the London Assembly released a study on the impact of the Games which warned that: “There are already concerns that London’s long-term programme of regeneration is repeating a weakness of previous Games: it risks happening to, rather than being shaped by, the local population.”
Unless the former Olympic Park is well integrated with the surrounding areas and is open and accessible to the people of east London, it runs the risk of being underused and of failing to achieve its potential as a generator of prosperity for the area. “It would be easy to see the Olympics as a panacea for east London, but it isn’t,” cautions Andrews.“ The important thing is not to look at the Games as delivering the legacy, but that the impact is harnessed.”
Stuart Watson is a journalist who specialises in the built environment and regeneration sectors. He writes for Property Week, Retail Week and Regeneration & Renewal
