Unit 3: Making Geographical decisions Sustainability and London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games

What do I need to know? What is sustainable development? How are the meeting each of the 10 aims? Why was Stratford selected? What about the legacy?

1. What is sustainable development? Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising (limiting) the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

How are they meet the aims? Are they meeting them all well?

You will need to evaluate how well London is meeting each of the ten aims. During this next section you should complete this table to help you.

1. ‘Use or adapt existing facilities rather than build from scratch’. Pg.5 in your booklet shows the 30 venues around the country which will be used to host the games. Not only is this meet the aim it also means the games are spread throughout the country. However, they have still built an Olympic park with 6 new stadiums in Stratford.

2. ‘Be constructed on brownfield sites, so that greenfield are left untouched’. The games are meeting this aim well. Pg.22 in the booklet talks about derelict and neglect grounds, a lot of which was being used as a dumping ground, being transformed. Whilst all the grounds have been built on brownfield sites, part of this has involved destroying peoples homes.

3. ‘Protect and encourage native vegetation and fauna’. Pg. 23 discussed the habitat plan which has been developed to conserve and protect. It involves creating artificial habitats, a soil hospital, planting trees and other local plants and cleaning up the local area. Whilst this is all good news, rare species have had to be moved from their native home during the event,

4. ‘Include an effective public transport system, making all areas accessible’ Pg. 9 shows how well connected Stratford is. It is well linked to both the rest of the country and Europe via both rail and air transport. This is one of the games biggest successes. The old bus depot was knocked down to make way for the stadium and a new one built from scratch.

5. ‘Minimise waste and encourage recycling’ Pg.23 & 24 tell you that 97% of all demolished material was reused. The roof of the main stadium is made from unwanted piping and the outside of the copper box is made completely from old copper pipes. There is still more that could be done. Lots of materials have still needed to be made.

6. ‘Minimise energy use, use renewable sources of energy’. The ODA are using CCHP which reuses heat generated during electricity. They have developed a new energy centre which will use eg. Biomass oil. They could go much further with this. More energy, especially in the homes of athletes could be generated by wind or sun. Very little is covered on this aim in the booklet.

7. ‘Minimise water consumption using rain water and recycled water for uses such as irrigation.’ As well as using the rain water for irrigation they are also using it to flush the toilets. Lets hope they get plenty of rain. These methods are weather dependent and could have to return to more traditional methods is the weather isn’t on their side.

8. ‘Minimise pollution, or where land is polluted, it should be cleaned up’. Contaminated land has been cleaned up. A soil hospital was created and has cleaned thousands of tonnes of soil. The River Lea and its canals have also been cleaned. Using low carbon concrete and power should reduce future pollution. Whilst many efforts have been made all large scale construction project will create pollution.

9. ‘Create affordable housing and rents, within reach of everyone.’ The houses the athletes are living in will be sold on after the event, hopefully at affordable prices. Hundreds of people have been moved to make way for the games and not all are happy. One residents of Clay’s Lane has complained about moving from a nice home, to one which is not of a good standard. There have also been complaint about prices rising as the area has become more popular.

10. ‘Benefit people from all communities e. g 10. ‘Benefit people from all communities e.g. low income groups, ethnic minorities, disable people. Newham was selected as it is the most ethically diverse place in England, and could therefore reach many groups. However, studies have shown that there further away from Newham you move the less people feel the Olympics is benefiting them.

Why was Stratford selected? Pg. 10 – 12 give you a good over view of this area in relation to the rest of the country. The reasons can be split into social, economic and environmental.

Social reasons

Figure 5 – The age-sex structure of Newham’s population compared to the UK, 2001

Figure 6 – The ethnic structure of Newham compared to England in 2006

Figure 18 – Housing in Newham

Economic reasons

Figure 23 – Government assessment of housing deprivation in Newham (shown by the arrow) compared to the rest of England and Wales, 2008

Figure 7 – Deprivation in Newham compared to the least and most deprived areas of England and Wales, 2008

Figure 8 – How incomes in Newham (shown by the arrow) compare with the rest of England and Wales, 2008 Figure 9a – Employment status in Newham, 2001 Figure 9b – Employment type in Newham, 2001

Figure 10 – The % of the population with no educational qualifications, 2001

Environmental reasons

Figure 25 – Waste dumping ground before clearance

Figure 26 – Electricity pylons before power lines were buried underground

The Legacy of the games You will be asked to consider all 6 options for the future. You may be asked to selected the best and justify why this option is better than the others. You should use the grid in figure.29 to inform you decision. Alternatively they may tell you the option they have selected and ask to figure out why, so you need a good understand of the positives and negatives of each option.

Option 1: Develop a ‘Green Park’ for sustainable employment and research Positives Negatives Environmentally friendly Not related to sports Doesn’t address housing Give a range of jobs Education through apprenticeships 31

Option 1: Develop a ‘Green Park’ for sustainable employment and research Positives Linked to Aims 8, 7, 6, 5 Linked to Aim 10

Option 2: Develop a new Technology Park Positives Negatives Most financially beneficial Doesn’t bring benefits to people of Newham Improve knowledge economy Does not address housing 33

Option 2: Develop a new Technology Park Positives Not linked to any aim

Option 3: Create a world-class Sports Park Positives Negatives Related to Olympics No educational benefits Give a range of jobs Temporary or un-reliable source of income Doesn’t address housing 35

Option 3: Create a world-class Sports Park Positives Linked to Aim 1 Linked to Aim 10

Option 4: Develop sustainable housing Positives Environmentally friendly Negatives Not beneficial to people of Newham Sustainable in terms of the environment Not related to sports Boost local economy 37

Option 4: Develop sustainable housing Positives Linked to Aims, 5, 6, 7 Linked to Aims, 3, 5, 6, 7 Not linked to any aim

Option 5: Build 10 000 affordable homes Positives Offers affordable housing Negatives Not environmentally friendly Increase of social and starter homes Could increase low income families Boosts local economy 39

Option 5: Build 10 000 affordable homes Positives Linked to Aims 9 and 10 Linked to aim 10

Option 6: Develop a world-class education facility Positives Negatives Linked to sport No obvious economic benefits Improve education opportunities No links to education Only benefits sport education 41

Option 6: Develop a world-class education facility Positives Not linked to any aim Linked to Aim 10