2012 Olympic Games
2012 Olympic Games.
Recommendation It will explore whether the Olympics is still athlete focused or more of a profit maker for the host. If these games are to prevail careful observation of previous games must be made to ensure that similar pitfalls are not stumbled upon and past methods can be improved. A more recent turn in economics may prove a large problem for the preparation of the games and the government must be careful as not to under estimate the budget, especially considering the varying views societies take on the use of public spending for all this to happen.
Terms of reference Report specifications Purpose This report is for the assessment of my tutor, Alex Watts. It will asses my understanding and development of report writing and the module so far. Scope I may use any material I can find in this report and have no limit to the references I can use, so long as I do not exceed the word limit set and I reference them on the reference page. I may use a limit less amount of material for background reading and study in relation to this report as long as they are stated in the bibliography or reference page. Aim
My aim is to research London 2012 and demonstrate the skills I have learned. Taking reference from material including newspapers, academic journals and books. I will use a broad scope of materials to present a very balanced and clear report of the games. Limitations and constraints I am limited on the length of the report and the due date. The maximum length of the report is 2500 words not including the reference list and bibliography and the due date is the 20th of November. I must ensure my work is of a certain layout and style with a contents table.
I may use a maximum of two references from internet sites and any other information obtained from internet sites with have to be recorded in the bibliography and will not count to one of my fifteen minimum references. Also when making reference and listing reading materials I must keep them in accordance with the Harvard referencing system. Objectives This report is due in on the 21st of November and has a word limit of 2500. The key objective in this report is to analyse whether the games will bring all the benefits the government is suggesting.
This report will explore the claims made by the government and London’s’ Mayor Boris Johnson and weigh up whether they are too great a task for them to realise in the long run. I will base a conclusion on all the references and information I have put together throughout the report. Methodology and Procedures Materials I had very little knowledge of the Olympics previously and started by looking at past games on various web pages and began relating them to 2012. I paid particular attention to the economic side of the Olympics and what it means on a global scale to the country considering the new economic threat in full force.
How I sourced materials I firstly went to the LJMU library (Aldham Robarts) to source information, I couldn’t find many books on the subject and proving far more useful was the LJMU electronic library presenting me with much more information in the form of e-books and academic journals. Many of my searches turned up very specific material from e-books. I then turned to the internet using online newspapers and specific websites on the Olympics. Materials used All materials I have included in my report can be found in my reference list.
Any other information that I have sourced that exceeded my reference limit or having be directly used in the report can be found in my bibliography. Findings/Analysis The bid Once the decision was taken in May 2003 to compete for the 2012 Summer Games the slogan “Back the Bid” filled billboards and posters on the sides of buses and was woven into the fabric of seats on the tube. Opinion polls suggested consistent support for the campaign running at about 70%, and by May 2005 1. 2 million Londoners had signed up online to “Back the Bid” and 10,000 had already volunteered to be helpers at the Games (The Londoner, 2005 cited by Newman 2007).
There was an instant surge of support for the Olympics from the word go, an overwhelming number of Londoners supported the bid. Following success in the Olympic competition on July 6, 2005 and the London bombings on July 7, 2005, the dominant image of London as host for the 2012 Games is as a city “diverse and unafraid”. (Government office for london, 2006 cited in Newman, 2007) London presented itself as this strong figure in the global portrait and drove forward with this image to try to secure 2012. The city of London will host the Games of the XXX Olympiad.
Following four rounds of voting by members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 6 July 2005 at the 117th IOC Session, in Singapore, London eventually triumphed by taking 54 votes from a possible 104. This gave London the majority that it needed to be elected as the host city for the 2012 Games. London had to overcome stiff competition, however, in the form of Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid in its bid to get the Games. (British Olympic Association, 2008 [online]) London landed a very substantial number of votes in the election and proved to be strong candidate in the running’s all the way though to the final election.
Rejuvenation New image Boris Johnson said today that the 2012 Olympics would be “much, much more fun” than the Beijing Games as he unveiled a vision of the “party atmosphere” they could bring to London. (Sparrow, 2008) A brighter and better future is seen to be forged for London out of the games The Olympic Development Authority is keen to transform the location site in Stratford, east London, into a flourishing residential are once the athletes have left. This is great news for Stratford and east London which could really benefit from the rejuvenation.
Also the lea valley is set to transform into one of the city’s most treasured parks. Britain’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games would transform 1,500 acres of east London’s Lower Lea Valley, one of the UK’s poorest areas, into the main Olympic site. (Allen, 2004) Location The main Olympic venues are to be located in an Olympic Park and neighbouring areas largely in the borough of Newham in east London. These parts of the city were identified as prospective Olympic sites in the late 1970s when a bid for the 1988 Games was being considered.
The mayor’s London Plan favours the east of the city over the west, encouraging new development to follow new public transport investment (Greater London Authority, 2004) It was obvious that the east end would benifit from the developement, the games will help rejevenate london in favour of everyone living there. Athletes competing in the 2012 London Olympics will be housed in a village where apartments will be sold for up to ? 1m after the Games are over. (Pocock, 2006) The Olympic Development Authority is keen to transform the location site in Stratford, east London, into a flourishing residential are once the athletes have left.
This is great news for Stratford and east London which could really benefit from the rejuvenation. Also the lea valley is set to transform into one of the city’s most treasured parks. The Olympic village will be designed as part of a new “water city” which is said to incorporate the green spaces, water ways and canals of lea valley park. When all told is finished they will leave behind 5000 apartments. Economic impacts With The Olympics attracting thousands of spectators a year globally, through radio, television and the thrill of being there, it doesn’t come as a surprise that there is money to be had for people willing to get involved.
Growth More than 800 companies have won ? 3. 5bn of work in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics, new figures reveal today. (William, 2008) In the face of an economic recession people may argue that the Olympics Is too much of a mammoth task for the UK to achieve and doing so will put even more strain on the economy with the large budget of tax payers money needed. But in wake of this crisis it could prove to be a saviour in the field it was thought to fall, over 68 percent of the work awarded to 801 so far has been given to small-medium sized businesses and 98 percent of the companies are UK based.
On top of that not only will London benefit but 46 percent of the work is going to firms outside of London. It will offer new work to many businesses in a time forecast to bring hardship. London 2012 is an unmissable opportunity in such a time of economic need. An estimated ? 4 billion contributor to the London economy is forecast for the capital prior to and during the London 2012 Games. Combine this with the projected ? 40 billion growth in the London economy over the next four years and it becomes clear that 2012 is just the start of London’s growth. London Developement Agency, 2008) Over spending? Senior figures in the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) believe the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body responsible for building the infrastructure of the Olympic project, is “out of control”.
They accuse the ODA of failing to adapt to the realities of the credit crunch and a likely future recession and fear that the promised Olympic legacy is now at risk. (Howker, 2008) Athletes competing in London 2012 face a squeeze on living space in the Olympic Village as the deepening credit crisis threatens resources. O’Connor, 2008) Massive budgets have been set and they continue to rise, surely prompting a revamp of the infrastructure of the London Olympics? More and more money keeps getting pumped into the Olympics, stadium costs have risen ? 16m and the aquatics centre has almost tripled to ? 303m. Not to mention an estimated injection of ? 250m for the building of the Olympic village. the Treasury agreed to give the ODA an interim payment of ? 93m to cover ongoing costs in the construction of the Olympic Village. The money was necessary because organisers cannot find sufficient private investment. Howker, 2008)
In the past year, board members of the Olympic Organising Committee received ? 1,000 per two-hour meeting and the chief executive, Paul Deighton, a former Goldman Sachs banker with a personal fortune of more than ? 100m, was paid a salary of ? 557,440. The committee chair Lord Coe splits his time between his Olympic work, for which he receives more than ? 250,000 a year, and managing the Complete Leisure Group. (Howker, 2008) Borris Johnson has been told by his 2012 advisor, David Ross, that the ? 9. 3b budget may simply not be enough. Overspending, deadlines eading further out reach and mounting pressure from a forecast recession in the economy don’t fair to well for the foreseeable future of 2012.
The Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has been scurrying to explain her remark that “had we known what we know now” about the horrible state the economy would be in, “we would almost certainly not” have bid to host the games, back in 2005. (Conn, 2008) With budgets overstretched, private money not forthcoming, and ministers under pressure to find savings in a shrinking economy, Londoners might be forgiven for wishing that they were not hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 after all. Rajan, Carbon-neutral flame for green Games, 2008) If the overspending continues to rise societies delicate views may shift on the London Olympics. Everyone is feeling the strain of the economic hardship, with government spending at a high with the Olympics and with the banks in such trouble, people may wonder where there money is really going.
Funding Cadburys Much funding has been sourced for the budget for the Olympic games, the budget currently sits at around ? 9. b, its much higher than first stated but private funding is expected to make up a large chunk of this. Cadburys is set to be one of the private sponsors The organising committee for the Games (Locog) said the firm would be a “Tier Two” partner by adding ? 20m to the ? 410m of private money already secured to finance the event. (Rajan, Cadbury to sponsor London 2012 Olympics, 2008) The lottery One large funder of the Olympics will be the national lottery and this has stirred much controversy. London will profit far more from the Olympics than any other part of Britain.
For the next seven years local museums, galleries, theatres and village halls all over the country are threatened with losing the funding they have used so well. Winning the right to hold the Olympics is a triumph, but it must not be paid for at the expense of arts and sports in the rest of the country. (Renton, 2005) Lottery interest has fallen from its original super success; new ways are always being put forward from Camelot to rejuvenate public interest in the scheme. At its heart the lottery donates and awards large sums of money to charities and clubs.
Arts, sports and good causes are a few of many. This lately has seen to be neglected in light of the Olympics and people fear that the allocation of resources to the Olympics through the lottery is too much of an opportunity cost in light of the causes that should arguably be benefiting from it instead. Conclusions London 2012 The Olympic Games being help in London is a great chance for the UK to shine, not only London but the whole country is on show to the world with thousands of tourists, athletes and officials visiting and millions watching on television.
This is one way to tackle the economic crisis at hand, publicity and profit can be gained from this event if handled in the right way. Thousands of jobs will be realized with the huge sum of money and contracts offered to businesses, specifically small businesses within the UK with 98 percent of the work going to UK based businesses. This could be exactly what the economy needs right now. East London will undergo a massive revamp and thousands of new accommodation and prestigious living are will be available all sure to boost spirit and prove a success. However the mounting obstacles may prove just too much for the project to overcome.
The economic crisis brings with it increasing skepticism from the public and many officials. Budget targets are being exceeded and many are regretting the original bid in light of this new hardship. With the masses on hand watching it seems like London is setting itself up for a bigger fall with the whole world ready to watch, costs may end up having to be cut and the games may not live up to the originally touted legacy leaver as once believed.