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Ultra sports events like the Olympic or the commonwealth Games, the Football World Cup or perhaps the European Capital of Tradition always have big and beautiful aims, just like for the last one, according to the Euro Commission ‘highlight the diversity of ethnical wealth in Europe plus the ties that bind us as Europeans’ (toutel’europe. European union, seen within the 4th january 2012). Although nowadays, countries and metropolitan areas bid to host these kind of events with increased pragmatic goals where art, culture and sport may very well be as tools of ‘place marketing and urban regeneration’ (MATHESON, 2010).
But whether or not these aspires are reputable, the history shows that the results are not always as expected. While London is going to sponsor the Olympics in the summer on this year, it can be interesting to see some examples from the past and also to see how the London regulators are using this kind of important knowledge. That is why, the goal of this dissertation is going to vitally discuss the assumption that London will benefit from hosting the Olympics by drawing on previous examples of major sports and celebrations.
To cope with this subject, the dissertation is divided in several parts.
First of all, we is going to talk about what authorities seek out when they bet for hosting major sport events and festivals, followed by a section that can draw upon the lessons learned coming from previous projects, and finally we will look at if London, uk authorities seem to have taken into account these lessons. I. The expected seeks when hosting mega occasions As noted by D Davies (2011), ‘over the past two decades there have been a new tendency emerging within sport, which has seen a shift, via investment with regard to sport to investment in sport intended for good'(p1).
This shift, which has also been viewed within fine art and tradition, is a fresh emerging trend produced by the context of the positive effect. According to the metaphore of “commodification” of towns noted by Elias Beriatos and Aspa Gospodini (2004), ‘mobile capital and vacationers are the highly flexible consumers, cities would be the product, and native government, organizations and establishments are the manufacturers, the internet marketers and the retailers’ (p188).
In a ‘highly competitive market’ (irbid), sport, skill and lifestyle are a piece of elements used by the final kind of celebrities to improve their product, by looking into making it distinct and getting together with the requires of the consumers. More concretely, sport, fine art and lifestyle have been more customised to cope with urban regeneration objectives (L Davies, 2011) because a large amount of governments, showing off and nonsporting organizations assume that a wide range of monetary and cultural benefits can be conferred at this time to individuals and communities. This can be then accustomed to revitalize decreasing urban areas (irbid). The important term of legacy needs after that to be introduced.
Indeed, this word for which numerous writers explain that it’s a widely contested and certainly misinterpreted concept, is now overused in most major sporing events from the bid for the planning in the event and post-event period. For T Davies (2011), this term represents: ‘the wide range of outcomes commonly associated with and expected of major events, which range from physical factors including sporting infrastructure and urban and environmental creation, through to larger socio-economic improvements to an region such as enhancing skills and workforce creation, community contact and interpersonal capital’ (p. ).
In accordance to MATHESON (2010), the presentation of short-term effects to put money and to number major incidents are not enough anymore. At present, the city as well as the host country need to prove the assets can be sustainable with the creation of legacies, whether to win the right to host the wedding, to motivate community and stakeholder support for the case, but also to justify when there are high amounts of public sector investment.
Therefore the authorities which host such mega events take more and more care of the heritage planning and even create particular organization, which in the case with the London 2012 Olympic Games is known as the Olympic Park Legacy Company. The Legacy organizing can be widely varied with themes like the improvements with the physical activity levels, the educational benefits, the durability and revitalization developments, and economic and social developments (Scottish Authorities, 2009b).
But as L Revealed claims, when she reuses the idea created by Gratton and Preuss (2008), a cube with three proportions: positive and negative, organized and unplanned, tangible and intangible may be used to conceptualize the idea of legacy. The problem is then, that in reality the studies realized to measure the feasibility as well as the impact of the events are only focused on the positive, planned and tangible measurements. Thus, as it can be quantitatively measured, the economic results are often lead to the foreground (irbid).
We’ve got presented the aims of some towns and countries to sponsor major sporting events and festivals, the next portion will look a few lessons discovered from prior examples of urban centers and countries which have managed such huge events. II. Some lessons learned from previous endeavours In order to critically discuss the assumption that London will certainly benefit from hosting the Olympics, we are going to in brief observe a lot of previous samples of cities that have hosted these kinds of mega situations and to draw up some lessons learned that ought to be taken into account.
To begin with, the examples of the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2150 and in Athens in 2004 will be noticed because that they both demonstrate the fact that, as Bernadi (2010, l. 22) discussed it, ”despite a real handle effect, the corporation of international events such as the Olympics, bring about some no negligible cons, especially in terms of the respect of Fundamental Legal rights often dismissed in favor of the ‘gigantic’ that remains the Achilles’ back heel of the games”. The example of Athens’ Olympics is particularly visible.
By hosting the Video games, the city as well as the Greek authorities wanted to deeply modernize the transport and the accommodation infrastructures which been with us but had been outdated to get a European metropolis, while launching the construction in the Olympic venues, and they also experienced the desire to enhance the archeological history of Athens and of it is suburbs (Beriatos E., 2006). Thanks to the Olympics, they were capable of realize Huge works and were to be funded by about 50% by European Union nevertheless the Greek capital has ailed to assume the post-olympic period to become the sort of what not to do (irbid).
Today only thirty percent of the spots were transformed, the others outstanding as ‘white elephants’ (irbid). In addition to the total cost of the games, the Greek express and its capital must use each year considering that the end from the Olympic tournaments? 40 mil for the maintenance of these abandoned Olympic spots (irbid). We are able to learn many lessons out of this example.
The first is that precisely what is really important intended for the organised authorities is usually to plan a long-term heritage usage of the Olympic venues as soon as possible and to promote a regular usage of the Olympic Playground to maximize the economic and social legacies in the adjacent area (L Davies, 2011). By getting regular situations, it will not simply maximize the employment opportunities within the venues themselves and returning on open public investment, but create a vibrancy to the place, which will inspire other expenditure and consumption (irbid), but it really will also allow for every venue to generate their own revenue and be economically viable (irbid).
The 2150 Olympic Games in Sydney was another example of Olympics organization which paid out little attention to legacy planning. Indeed, regardless if it sent successful game titles (irbid) which in turn “had significant implications for the revitalization of Homebush Bay (Searle G., 2002) in delivering it “forward and at a scale probably not otherwise possible (irbid). The offer for the Olympics authorized the regulators to move from a project of an commercial zone towards the regeneration in the brownfield site into a green Olympic Playground (irbid).
However , the underestimation of the final cost of the Olympic park, the subordination of planning to economic creation, the need for partnerships with the personal sector and the post-games competition between different venues in the city lead to a more reactive, short term and unpredictable organizing process which may have been prevented if a open public sector firm have straight planned the regeneration with the area in a holistic method (Davies D. E., 2011). Another lessons that we may learn from prior initiatives is importance of the involvement and the participation in the local residential areas in the revitalization of their location.
Whether by using an economic perspective by developing local businesses in the economic activity of the Olympics Area, but also on a sociable point of view by inviting residential areas to engage in sports activities and services offered on the playground (irbid). With this point, the example of the 1996 Altlanta ga Olympic Games shows that bad legacies may be created in case the local human population is ruled out from the preparing process, with fear of raising property rates and gentrification (irbid).
Furthermore, the powerful experience of the 2002 Earth Games in Manchester has demonstrated that “a volunteer labour force is critical to mega sport situations such as the Olympic or Earth Games (Nichols G. & Ralston R., 2011, g. 1), which left a long term legacy with regards to employability, social inclusion, and economic benefits (irbid). The past lesson we can study from previous initiatives is the importance of making frequent evaluations from the economic, sociable and environmental impacts of such events’ legacy even if some are not necessarily quantifiable.
III. The London, uk 2012 Olympic Games faced to previous lessons While the Olympics will begin in few months, it is not necessarily currently likely to clearly know the assumption that London, uk will reap the benefits of hosting the Olympic Games but you may be wondering what we can currently say that unlike the examples of Sydney and Athens, the London regulators seem to took legacy being a very important aspect of the accomplishment of the Online games from the outset (L Davies, 2011).
This discussion can be illustrated by the early creation from the Olympic Park Legacy Business (OPLC), which in turn aim should be to lead the long-term physical transformation in the Park following your Games (irbid). By visiting the state website in the London Olympics and of the OPLC, the general feeling when ever seeing the diverse list of legacy aspires, is that the London, uk authorities tried to take advantage of prior failed examples. It commences with the substantial aim to regenerate an important part of East Greater london, within the Olympic boroughs which represent “the greatest bunch of deprival in England and Wales (L Davies, 2011, p228).
The local communities seem to be then as the focal point of the legacy seeks which strategy with a holistic consideration to “create a vibrant and lively Olympic Park (OPLC site, seen for the 5th January 2012), which will be “fully bundled within the adjacent areas(irbid), and “to provide the widest feasible public benefits(irbid). The Olympics are seen because “a one of a kind chance to reconnect areas across the Lea Valley (irbid) and to accomplish this, transports cable connections have been and/or being better, for example the improving of the Stratford Regional Station.
Another aim claimed by the London specialists is that completely of the spectators will get the Games by simply public transport, or by simply walking or perhaps cycling (London 2012 legacy site, found on the fifth January 2012). Concerning for the long term use of the Olympic Park, the OPLC plans to transform this after the Games. The aim becoming to create a new centrality with mixed usages, a unique ’21st century garden city’ (OPLC web site, found on the next January 2012), with a significant emphasis on durability highlighted by elaboration from the London 2012 Sustainability Plan: Towards a One Planet 2012.
This is where the Olympic stadium, transformed into a multi-purpose place which will be flexible for a wide range of sporting and cultural situations to maximize the chance of being regularly utilized, will be a central point (ibird). But while this all looks perfect, the reality is certainly not, as observed L Davies (2011, p228) when the lady said “proposals currently indicate aspirations rather than reality, with implementation and funding of legacy ideas still unclear.
Indeed, in the context of economic crisis, the ultimate global cost of the Game titles has tripled compared to the primary budget (lepetitjournal. com, found on the 7th January 2012), what should lead us to think about what will be the true legacy from the Olympic Park, what will become the final price for the taxpayers, regarding the difficulty the OPLC will certainly have to find investors to get the change of the Area, about the high possibility that an significant part of the careers created by event is only going to be short-term.
Conclusion What cities are looking for today simply by hosting international events like the Olympics or the Commonwealth online games or such as the title of European Capital of Traditions, are primarily of short-term effects, including the fact that these events possess real lever effect to have funding via private sector and open public institutions like the European Union for making public and private infrastructures which are generally realized at a very mass.
This kind of pursuits taking increasingly more part of a technique that aims to address the needs of “transforming downtown landscapes to cope with globalization and intercity competition”(Beriatos E., Gospodini A., 2004). But whenever he previous illustrations such as the Beijing, Sydney specifically Athens Olympics, authorities hosting these situations are now asked to anticipate the long-term effects, which can be called the ‘legacy’.
But while the Birmingham Authorities manage to have taken really into account the legacy organizing from the start in the Games arrangements, with the primary aim to regenerate a part of East London areas containing some of the most deprived friends of England and making certain “within two decades the neighborhoods who sponsor the 2012 Games will have the same social and economical chances his or her neighbours around London, according to the Strategic Revitalization Framework (L Davies, 2011), the current economic crisis leaves the ongoing future of this extremely ambitious concentrate on relatively doubtful, and verifies the fact that socio-economic assessments will have to be carried out over the following 15 to 20 years.
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