ROOF Blog

The long-term regeneration legacy of the 2012 Olympic Park in London has been called into question by the London Assembly’s economic development committee. In a progress report the committee concluded that without a ‘credible anchor tenant’ for the stadium, the creation of 10,000 new homes in the community, several schools and many jobs was just ‘aspirational’ and benefits may not appear for ‘many, many years’ after 2012.

The Olympic village in London will be publically owned after the government put in an extra £324 million in public funds when no private investors were found. Originally the £1 billion village, to include 2,800 flats, was to be entirely privately funded, but Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said private finding had been rejected as it was ‘not a good deal’ for the taxp

The London mayor says there is now a ‘clear vision’ for the use of London’s Olympic site after the 2012 games. As the plans were launched Tuesday by Boris Johnson, Tessa Jowell and Hazel Blears, Mr Johnson said plans for the long-term use of the London site will deliver a lasting legacy in areas of transport, new infrastructure and world class facilities including a sports academy, a school, elite training centre, and up to 10,000 houses.

Even before Britain won the 2012 Olympic Games bid, a strategy document called The Game Plan found little evidence that the event would be good for the economy or encourage more people to play sport, two reasons given by the government for bidding for the games. The only beneficial aspect the games would provide the UK was in providing a morale-boosting national celebration the report concluded. The report was said to have been ‘buried’ by the government when it was published in 2002, while the costs have more than tripled from £2.4 billion during the bid to £9.3 billion today.