The “Evocative”Olympics: planning

and story-ing theLondon 2012 legacy

Dr. Iain MacRury

LERI, UELNovember 18th-20th 2008 ‘The “evocativeOlympics” planning and story-ing the 2012

legacy’, 2nd Forum on Olympic Developmentin Brazil. Federal University of Rio Grande do

Sul and Brazilian Ministry of Sport

Preparing for London2012: Contexts

• New mayor in May 2008 - and anew interpretation of the Games,and ‘legacy’

• Beijing’s success raised profile ofthe Games and fired publicexcitement and some anxietiesabout scale and cost.

• Credit crunch – and difficulties inraising private finance contributionsto some Olympic projects

Beijing……

….TheSpectacularGames

Rapid globalisation modernisation ofeconomy..

• “One World, One Dream

The Olympics represented a symboliccrystallisation of the transformations ofrecent decades

…..spectacle

Large scale megaprojects..

Hard legacy…

Soft legacy…?

The ‘Olympic logo’ isbuilt deeply into thefabric of Beijing'smaterial environment

London 2012

• Transformation in progress

• Anxiety and Desire

Engaging withregeneration

• New mega-objects

• New environments

• Anxiety

Managing relations with‘the new’

• One of the mother’s tasks…is to presentobjects to her infant. This is something ofan art, for if she forced a new object uponthe infant, the child would inevitably turnaway; but if she allowed for ‘a period ofhesitation’ during which the infant wouldturn away, presumably from lack ofinterest, the infant would soon return, withheightened interest and desire toward thenew object. In this respect cities continueto present their inhabitants with newobjects – and the planning stage, whenproposals are floated in the press, mayconstitute an important psychic elementin the population’s relation to the new.

• Bollas, C (2008) The Evocative Object World

Co-creation feeds thelegacy narrative

• it is important that the ‘new’ ispresented in the manner of anextend period of negotiation andconsultation

• The feelings attaching to thefamous White elephant syndromehave their roots in such poorlymanaged – even forced -presentation of the new objectsupon unengaged populations, andin the disregard for emotional andpractical requirements and of thepowerful value of localinterpretations of a city’sdevelopmental narrative.

Credit crunch

• Financial crisis and disturbedmodels of public privatepartnership

• These are causing anxietiesabout legacy planning andscope

The promises

• Make the UK a world-leadingsporting nation

• Transform the heart of EastLondon*

• Inspire a new generation of youngpeople to take part in volunteering,cultural and physical activity*

• Make the Olympic Park a blueprintfor sustainable living

• Demonstrate the UK is a creative,inclusive and welcoming place tolive in, visit, and for business

• Evaluating social enagegment

Main areas of focus

• the economy;

• employment, education andskills development;

• health;

• sports development;

• social capacity and communitybuilding

Their scope is:

• The main focus will be the fiveOlympic boroughs

• London and wider UK data will beused forcomparative/benchmarkingpurposes

• Data publication dates vary frommonthly to bi-annual, the mostrecent published data will be usedwith reference to historic trendswhere like is being compared withlike

Their application:

• The indicators will be a componentof a developing archive, updatedon publication of new data andexpanded as the project develops;

• The indicators will providebackground data for communityconsultation activities;

• The indicators will provide primarysource material for thedevelopment of research andteaching about the Olympics

Assessment will:

• Provide a framework formeasuring the success of theGames that focuses uponoutcomes and the processesby which the Games legacyachieves a momentum[1] thatdelivers the Government’s ‘OurPromise for 2012’;

• Translate the concept of legacyinto tangible and measurableindices of performance overtime in relation to East London;

.

Assessement will:

• Examine the role of governmentpolicy in achieving interventionsthat maximise benefits andminimise the risks that areinevitably associated with majorprojects of urban renaissance andrenewal.

• Provide selected quantitativebackground evidence to inform thequalitative community engagementresearch activity and the process ofdiscussion and dissemination offindings with local stakeholders,including policy makers at the localand national government levels

Tracing Economic Activity

Economic Indicator SourceTOTALPOPULATION ONS (Census and Annual Survey)Population by ethnicityPopulation (males)Population (females)Population (under 16)WORKING AGE ONS (monthly)POPULATIONECONOMICALLYACTIVEECONOMICALLY ONS (monthly)INACTIVETOTAL EMPLOYEES BY FT, PT & OCCUPATION ONS (monthly)VOLUNTEERING (Olympic related) Source DCLG/local knowledge.co.uk

(annual) and LOCOGCHANGE IN GVA per head Local knowledge (annual)TRAINING SCHEMES (DIRECT OLYMPIC RELATED) LDA/LAs/Locog – quarterly surveyEDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Thames gateway London Partenrship

knowledge platform (annual)EMPLOYMENT (DIRECT OLYMPIC RELATED) LDA/LAs – quarterly surveyINDEX OF MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION Tri-Annual; a relative score indicating

positioning vis other English LSOAs(equivalent to local authorities)

Indicator Source

ACTIVE PEOPLES SURVEY Sport England (Annual)

ENGAGEMENT WITH OLYMPIC SPORTS Sport England (Annual)

ATTENDANCE AT LOCAL AUTHORITYSPORTS CENTRES BY AGE/ETHNICITY/GENDER

Sport England/Local Authorities (Annual)

Indicator Type Source

GENERAL HEALTH DOH Bi-annual

CHILDHOOD OBESITY DOH ANNUAL

LIFE EXPECTANCY AT DCLGWWW.LOCALKNOWLEDGE.CO.UK

BIRTH (JAN 04-DEC06) DCLG, Bi-annual

LIFE EXPECTANCY DCLG, Annual

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS – sports injuries DOH/Trusts Annual

INCIDENCE OF CHRONIC DISEASE/ILLNESS DOH/Trusts Annual

INDICATOR TYPE SOURCE (PUBLICATIONFREQUENCY)

HOUSING TENURE Census (DECADE) & NOMIS (ANNUAL)

ACCOMODATION TYPE - Census and Nomis (annual)

HOUSEHOLD SPACES Census and Nomis

HOUSEHOLD TYPE Census and Nomis

HOUSING STOCK Housing StrategyStatistical Appendix return, annual

HOUSING: TENURE ONS Annual

HOUSEBUILDING P2m returns, National House BuildingCouncil

HOUSING: HOUSEHOLD ESTIMATES ONS, Annual

HOUSING: HOMELESS Communities. Gov.uk

HOUSING: RSL STOCK Housing Corporation via annual Regulatoryand Statistical Return

HOUSE PRICES (AVE) VALUES Halifax (monthly)

Qualitative work

• Contextualise / triangulate with.economic and other legacy-indicators

• Capture evolving assessmentsand experiences in relation to‘5 promises’ especially healthand well-being andregeneration-related promises–at a personal level;

• Engage with and illustrate localexperiences and 2012 / EastLondon ‘story’;

Qualitative work

• Capture tensions andcontradictions incommunities’/individuals’/groups’experiences ofOlympics/regeneration;

• Capture community responses toissues ‘in the news’ – livinghistory/everyday media responses;

• Pilot and demonstrate the value ofgroup interviewing and oral historytaking in assessment of Olympicregeneration /community impacts/legacies;

• Pilot online consultations andother data approaches

• Produce data in formats usefulto and usable by communities,students, scholars and otherinterested users;

• Contextualise/catalogue dataand method in relation to otherOlympic studies/regeneration/consultation materials;

Aim

• To gather robust data in theenvirons of the 5 boroughs toassess promises and to tracethe emergence of social capitalaround the games.

• To examine communities’engagements with Olympicsregeneration.

• To contribute to a platformfrom which to assess theemerging legacy into futuredecades.