Tag Archives: mega events

Olympic organisers go for gold

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A quick glance at the NDPB top earners’ list reveals that 3 out of the top 9 earners’ are in fact on the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority)’s ‘senior team’. David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, is officially the highest earning civil servant in the land with a whopper of an annual salary of between £390,000 and £394,999. John Armitt, chairman of the ODA board also made it into the top earners’ list and these 4 along with 5 other ODA senior executives each earn more than the UK Prime Minister, himself on a comparatively measly £142,500.

With such a big pile of Olympic gold split up between the senior executives, one wonders why those 78,000 unpaid Game Makers can’t be given a slice of the pie. Considering these volunteers will not be given the pleasure of watching the games themselves during their ten days of unpaid labour and further three unpaid days of training, one would think it’d be at least courteous to offer them more than a few free McDonalds lunches and free travel on working days.

It would seem that the winning team have already been decided, they’re up in One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf it would seem…

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Park to be tarmaced for Olympics

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Drapers Field, a park in Leyton that consists of all-weather football pitches, playing fields and an arts centre, is to be tarmaced over to serve as a storage depot for the London Olympics. While Waltham Forest council admitted that this would be a significant loss to the community – the park is used by around 100,000 people every year, including the Norlington School for Boys as well as 23 clubs – it still went ahead with the proposal, in the hope that the community will be granted substantial compensation.

Hackney Marshes – one of several parks to be redeveloped for Olympic facilities

This decision has caused uproar with local people because of the glaring contradiction of trying to promote sport as a co-operative, public activity whilst reducing opportunities for actively participating in sport. It also seems to be nonsensical to turn a park into a depot, search for alternative sites for sports activities and then restore the original site after 2012, when all the council or the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) would have to do is find an already existing depot in the area. These admittedly are of course hard to find in East London.

This is not the first requisition of public green space in the interest of the upcoming mega-event; a substantial chunk of Hackney Marshes has already been pocketed for the development of a VIP coach park.

This must also be frustrating for residents in a location where local sport – particularly in the shape of Leyton Orient FC who make use of the amenities – plays a positive role in the community. In the meantime, Norlington School for Boys face an uphill struggle to find fields for activities, and most likely a further dip into the school budget.

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Number of McDonald’s Trained 2012 Olympic Volunteers Increases by 8,000

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Photo By Fakelvis

Lord Coe launched London organising committee’s Olympic volunteering programme yesterday. Since the previous blog post on the matter, the 70,000 McDonald’s trained Olympic volunteers have risen up to 78,000, as Boris Johnson embarks on his quest to search for an additional 8,000 to act as “the face of the capital” for visitors. Coe claims the 2012 Olympics to be the “biggest thing happening in his lifetime”, stating that everyone should attempt to be a part of it in one way or another. To attract candidates, Coe declares: “If you don’t volunteer now, you won’t volunteer. Make sure you know how you’re going to be involved.” He stresses the importance of acquiring the “best of the best” volunteers, as they are the first thing Olympic visitors will see as they arrive at the Olympic Park.

The first person you see when you arrive at the Olympic Park is likely to be a volunteer [wearing a Mc Donald’s T-shirt], the first person you see on the Javelin Train is going to be a volunteer [wearing a Mc Donald’s T-shirt].        Seb Coe.

Inevitably, it wont just be the volunteers’ faces the visitors will be greeted with- the volunteers will, of course, be wearing the famous McDonald’s t-shirts, providing the company with an easy way of free advertising. The question is, what do the volunteers get out of it (apart from carrying out the role of a McDonald’s advertising mascot)? They will first be going through 3 days of training, followed by 10 full days of work during the Olympics/Paralympics. Surely this grants them a ticket to the actual games? No. Or, at least, a so called “non-event” ticket allowing access to the Olympic Park without actually seeing the games? No. Instead, the volunteers receive meal vouchers (McDonald’s, of course), and free public transport on working days. This applies to general volunteers, as well as those with special skills, such as medics. Is a free lunch and a bus ticket really a fair method of payment, McDonald’s? This is starting to look more and more like 78,000 unpaid “McJobs”. Where are the promised jobs?

The medics might be volunteers but at least you know the burger flippers are paid professionals.

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TFL Confirms Cable Car for 2012 Olympics

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Cable Car in Rio de Janeiro. Photo by Phil Whitehouse

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed plans to open a cable car in time for 2012 Olympics, operating 50 metres above water between the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks. The cable car is to transport up to 5,000 passengers (cyclists and pedestrians) per hour, between the two Olympic venues (the O2 arena and ExCel exhibition centre). The duration of the trip will be approximately 5 minutes one-way, cars running every 30 seconds. According to the Guardian, the system will be privately funded, costing £25 million provided by a number of potential operators.

London Mayor Boris Johnson claims that “A cable car spanning the majestic Thames would not only provide a unique and pioneering addition to London’s skyline, but also offer a serene and joyful journey across the river”. “Passengers will be able to drink in the truly spectacular views of the Olympic Park and iconic London landmarks whilst shaving valuable minutes from their travelling time”, he continues. Johnson believes that the cable car will provide a much-needed enhancement of cross-river options to the east of the city.

Former Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone does not object to the idea, as a cable car would be a development for the area. However, he states that “what is really needed is a road bridge that would carry more commuters.” The other alternative types of river crossing , according to professors of transport, are a rail-only bridge, a new river-ferry crossing, a walk and cycle-only bridge, and a car bridge adapted to take more public transport. The professors claim that a cable car would be the most sustainable of these. The question here, however, is whether a cable car is the most realistic option? Or is this an attempt to keep up with other major cities of the world?

Barcelona, Cologne, Hong Kong, Lisbon, New York and Singapore are amongst the cities
 currently employing a cable car. Does TfL feel that London is lagging behind? After the Olympics, will the public want to use the cable car as an every-day mode of transport? Not only does it sound unrealistic to think that the public will choose to “take the cable car” to work, but the route (from one place in the middle of nowhere to another) seems extremely Olympics-centred. Will the cable car be purely used as a way to impress the masses of tourists organisers claim will visit London in 2012? (In fact most host cities experience a drop in tourism during the Olympics) Quoting Tfl analysts, it certainly seems so: “A cable car would bring excitement and iconic importance, which would generate interest in tourist visits.” Let’s go fly a kite.

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Evicted for Sport

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:courtesy: Ravi Chaudhary/Governance Now.

This year, the commonwealth games are held in Delhi. Minister of Delhi 2010 Sheila Dikshit’s  concept of a “World Class” image has convinced local officials to  demolish any slums local to the commonwealth venues.

On the 7th of July 2010, during work hours, a government funded demolition team took bulldozers to the Yamuna Khada school (funded by donations) in order for it to be ruthlessly demolished. Those who attended and worked at the school were given three hours to vacate the property with no alternative. Police were present along with the construction teams and were seen destroying whatever could be demolished by hand in order to put fear into local residents. Many were removed with physical force.

After the destruction of the school, children as young as five years old were seen with teachers attempting to salvage items from the rubble of the school in order to save whatever they could for their community.  The children will have to relocate to the nearest alternative school three miles away in order to have an education. The school as part of the community was by no means a luxury but a necessity. With no immediate community to move to it is unknown when they are next able to continue their education and their lives.

Children from slums (including the Yamuna slums) have come together to produce a book of poems entitled “We Built This City” in order to save at least the memory of the community that they and their families have spent the last 25 years building. This emotional and reflective collection is the only weapon these children have against the bulldozers and police sent in by the government. With India hoping to host the 2016 Olympics it’s a wonder how far this abuse of the poor is going to go.

To find out more about what is happening concerning the destruction of the slum communities and to help support those who have suffered from the effects of the redevelopment of the Yamuna river, please visit Sarai and Governance now. If you would like to see how we have looked at this issue, please see our London / Delhi Project.

With similar effects seen in Beijing (Olympics 2008) and the UK (arguably with less government approved violence), it is questionable whether the development of these cities to create a “world class image” is necessary or progressive. The compaction of poor communities increases the class divide as well as reducing the opportunity for the poor to improve their standard of living.

Interestingly the official explanation for why the school needed to be demolished was “security”, the same reason given for demolishing the 100 year old Manor Gardens Allotments in London. These mega-events last only a few weeks- demolition is forever. There is only one difference between the events in London and Delhi. Eviction with a smile.

Remember- Its not losing that matters, its the taking part.

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Unpaid McJobs Available in the Olympics

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Photo by fakelvis

70,000 Volunteers Set to Wear McDonald’s Golden Arches in the 2012 Olympics…

McDonald’s has been chosen as the “presenting partner” for the 2012 Olympics, helping to recruit and train 70,000 volunteers, or the so-called Games Makers, required for an array of tasks including ticket checking, interpreting and providing first aid to the masses of millions due to visit the country. McDonald’s currently employs an army of 80,000 workers– their jobs dubbed as “McJobs” (a low-paying, low-prestige job requiring few skills). The company, it seems, hopes to gather 70,000 more people to voluntarily do an unpaid McJob over the course of the Olympics.

In addition to the role of presenting partner, the fast-food company has been deemed the exclusive recognisable “meal brand” of the London Games, ensuring that other food brands are unable to sell their wares, unless labels are removed and/or packaging changed.  The company is doing better than ever, making a £708 million profit in just the first three months of 2010. It goes without saying that the Olympics will skyrocket these profits further, as masses gaze at the famous golden arches as a side dish to the games, not only through the food consumed, but also the t-shirts of tens of thousands of McDonald’s “volunteers”.

Lord Coe, the London 2012 Chairman, claims that McDonald’s is likely to attract and recruit the best volunteers due to its “established customer service expertise and strong high street presence”. Coe continues that the company is among the few organizations with the ability to prepare such a large team in the relatively short time period. His motivation is therefore made clear, but what is McDonald’s plan? To help out? Or to take advantage of people willing to do an unpaid McJob?

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Spectacle Presentation at the London Festival of Architecture

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Films from Spectacle’s Olympic project collection are being screened as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Interviews with Lance Forman on the Forman’s fish smoking factory and footage of the now destroyed Manor Gardens Allotments are playing as part of a temporary three-week museum about Stratford and in particular the past, present and future of the Olympic site.

The event, a collaboration between the London School of Economics Cities Programme and the Architecture Foundation, will showcase artefacts from prominent organisations and artists mapping the history of the area and will be situated in a lobby space over the Stratford Shopping Centre. Spectacle’s material will be shown not only in this capacity but also as a reference to the construction and demolition work taking place for the creation of the World Cup 2012 infrastructure, which you can read more about here at the Spectacle Blog.

The festival is already underway, and the museum opens this Saturday, 26th June.

Olympic Food for Thought

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DSC_0600

This poster was found in one of New Delhi’s Tibetan refugee colonies, and was given pride of place amongst the other anti-Chinese propaganda. Despite the fact that it is aimed at the Beijing Olympics 2008, it has lessons for London 2012 too. The ‘human rights’ it asks us to put before the Games may not be the torture, oppression and violence that the Chinese government is accused of. But the breaking up of communities, and cheating the poor and defenceless out of the little that they have in the face of ‘regeneration’ is surely a slap in the face of human rights on a lesser scale. We cannot promote a  sliding-scale of rights; either they are respected or they are not. And at the moment, the London Olympics resides in a very grey area.

Something to think about.

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Gagging for Olympic Funding?

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The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) have recently advertised some (Arts Council backed) opportunities for arts organisations, curators and producers to establish some participatory projects and temporary commissions for the areas immediately surrounding the Olympic Park site August 2010 to December 2011.

The applications can be made on the London 2012 organisers and the London Development Agency (LDA)’s online ‘dating agency’ website set up for the purpose of securing business contracts for London 2012 public sector work and other major contract opportunities.

Seeing as it’s necessary to register on the CompeteFor website to view these opportunities, my eyes were drawn to the final part of  section number 14.4 of their terms and conditions. Particularly section C:

14.4 You further agree not to:

(c) do anything which would have an adverse effect on or embarrass any Games Body, or any official supporter or sponsor of the Games.


The site’s facilities are available only to those who agree with these terms and conditions. Therefore anything which might potentially embarrass the Games Bodies, supporters or sponsors is forbidden for organisations who wish to sign up. Surely the sponsors of the 2012 Olympic have nothing to be embarrassed or even criticised about?


Oh right…

When they said “warming up”, perhaps BP and EDF took that literally? Which other sponsors might illicit some controversies? Surely not Coca Cola, McDonalds or Lloyds? Or British Airways even?

The page does not signify whether signing up to these terms and conditions includes any prior or future ’embarrassments’, potentially any groups, producers or curators who apply for the commission are blocked from it if in the past they have made any ’embarrassing’ comments or gestures towards any of these sponsors or the ODA.

Not only then are the proposed artists or groups commissioned for the project gagged from making any criticisms of these illustrious sponsors. But any who may have previously criticised these sponsors are not only excluded from the selection process but they’re not even allowed to use the CompeteFor website. The website claims it wants: “To ensure the transparency and availability of London 2012 opportunities maximising the number and diversity of businesses contributing to the London 2012 programme, and create a legacy of increased capacity and expertise.” Perhaps making organisations agree to their gagging order isn’t the best way to encourage ‘transparency’.

Commonwealth Games 2010 and New Delhi’s ‘Jugad’ Spirit

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DSC_0398

New Delhi is to play host to the first ever Commonwealth Games held in Asia this coming October and, as with the London Olympics in 2012, opinion is divided. There is a powerful PR machine here feeding out reminders all over the city in the run up to the Games, with slogans such as ‘Green Delhi Clean Delhi’, in the hopes of cleaning up the rather extensive levels of pollution. New Delhi’s chattering classes, however, seem bemused at high foreign expectations.

“You do know there will be no Games?” a well-respected lawyer has exclaimed. Less pessimistic, but equally reserved architects involved in the construction of the highly controversial Commonwealth Games headquarters more humorously claimed the public and wider international community would certainly not receive the Games ‘described on the tin’, but that the government would unquestionably know what to show. And more importantly, what to conceal.

The spirit of jugad is a common concept in New Delhi, which roughly translates at best as ‘God willing’, and at worst as ‘by hook or by crook’. Many have invoked the term in relation to the Games, which are taking far longer and becoming much costlier than anticipated, as with the 2012 Olympics. The Games will be completed jugad, but it’s clear from walking the streets and talking to people that while it remains a subject of interesting debate for the Money Men, it is a worrying and at times livelihood-threatening prospect for the many million wallahs or ‘street sellers’ as harsher security restrictions are brought into place. Many are doubtful that the measures will end when the Games do.

There are those of course who proclaim that the Games connote excitement and invigoration, that they will bring life to the city. And in several respects this is true. It must be noted, however, that after each Asia Games in the 70s and 80s, there was deep civil unrest, which may or may not have been related to the Asia Games themselves. But taking into account the suspension of civil rights after the first Asia Games due to an internal ‘state of emergency’; and the holding of the second Asia Games in order to clean up the image of the regime – whispers of papering over social cracks, and governmental tin ears cannot be avoided.

As to the aftermath of this autumn’s Commonwealth Games, New Delhi dwellers must watch and wait.

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