The London 2012 Olympics were a phenomenal success – the perfect tonic for a country seemingly languishing under the clouds of bad economic news and dreadful summer weather. For 17 days a collective high swept through the country and then… it was gone. Or was it? What was left behind in the slipstream of Bradley Wiggins’ tyres and the dust from Jessica Ennis’ running shoes?
The term Legacy was at the forefront of London’s bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and there is no doubt that, following the Closing Ceremonies, a once neglected area of East London has hugely benefited from the social, economic and environmental regeneration work that took place… and that continues to take place to this day. But how much wider is its impact being felt? How have the experiences and the working practices deployed throughout the “greenest ever” Olympic and Paralympic Games informed approaches to other projects, not just in the UK, but throughout the world.
“We believed the Games could only be considered sustainable if there was evidence of wider influence on sustainable practices,” says Shaun McCarthy, former Chair, Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 in his overview of the London Games.
For the construction industry, particularly, the Games proved immensely successful in meeting sustainability objectives. And, as we can see throughout this issue of sustain’, the learning process that the many firms who worked on the project embarked upon is now feeding through into other projects. UKGBC’s Anna Surgenor notes that it is “clear to see that the Olympic spirit of raising the bar in sustainability is already being incorporated into construction and property firms’ organisational strategies and projects.”
There are many great examples of this learning threaded throughout the pages of sustain’: be it how LDA’s work on the London Olympic Park is now informing its plans for Gorky Park in Moscow through to AECOM’s masterplanning of the 2016 Rio Olympic Park.
“Expectations have been raised by the achievements of the Olympics and we have witnessed a discernible market change in ambitions for greater sustainability throughout the entire construction process, which must surely be viewed as significant progress for the industry and the wider environment,” says ISG’s Stuart Deverill.
One year on and the clouds of bad economic news and dreadful summer weather have returned. We must ensure, however, that the learning legacy celebrated in this issue of sustain’ is maintained and built upon – not just in East London, but throughout the UK.
Mind the gap
As the Olympic torch wound its way around the nation on the run up to the Games, the TV cameras were there to capture the cheering crowds with their beaming smiles and “once in a lifetime opportunity” platitudes. However, in some northern towns and cities, had the reporters wandered a street or two away, they may have found a different story: mutterings of discontent regarding an event perceived to cost a lot of money and happening “in that there London”.
Recent research presented to the York Festival of Ideas suggests the North-South divide has widened in terms of peoples’ economic prospects, possibly too in terms of health and educational life chances.
According to Danny Dorling, professor of human geography at the University of Sheffield, the North-South divide is growing at possibly its fastest since the Second World War. Britain is in danger of “pulling itself apart,” says Dorling. “Getting off the train in London from Sheffield is now something of a culture shock. The downturn has exacerbated the divide and no-one is doing anything about it.”
Speaking to business and community leaders outside of the capital about sustainability, I find regeneration is still high on their agenda. This was also recognised recently by CBI Director-General John Cridland in a speech to the Birmingham Made Me design expo: “There is huge potential for our major cities outside London to contribute far more than they do already. But without regeneration they will continue to punch below their weight.”
Regeneration can be locally grown, but with the public-sector purse strings ever tightening, the initiative must come from the private sector and local business strengths must be drawn upon. It won’t be easy; it won’t be quick. It will take an Olympic effort. But failure to even make it out of the starting blocks is unacceptable.
Steve Oxley, Editor
