A Health and Social Legacy for East London: Narratives of ‘Problem’ and ‘Solution’ around London 2012

Policies and programmes that tackle neighbourhood deprivation have long been a feature of urban policy in the UK and elsewhere. Large-scale urban regeneration and neighbourhood renewal programmes have been deployed as the primary vehicle to improve the health and life chances of residents of deprived neighbourhoods. Often these areas have a long history of efforts at regeneration and redevelopment and, over time, have become labelled as ‘problem areas’ in need of constant intervention. The bid for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was successful partly due to its promise to deliver a lasting health and social legacy by using the Games as a driver of regeneration in East London. Despite limited evidence for the effectiveness of such an approach, regeneration schemes tied to sporting events have emerged as popular strategies through which cities strive to enhance their urban fabric. Running through the core of the London 2012 bid was a discourse of East London as a ‘problem’ in need of a regeneration ‘solution’ that the Olympics uniquely could deliver. As a result, a wider narrative of East London was generated: as unhealthy; mired in poverty; desperate for jobs; with an inadequate and outdated built environment. The Olympic legacy was thus positioned as a unique once-in-a-lifetime solution ‘accelerating’ regeneration in East London, and delivering substantive change that either might not have happened, or would otherwise have taken decades. Through documentary analysis of published Government policy documents for the period 2002-2011, we demonstrate how the ‘problem’ of East London was used as political justification for London 2012. We argue that the Olympic legacy was deliberately positioned in neoliberal terms in order to justify substantial economic investment by the UK government and suit the needs of the International Olympic Committee. Finally, whilst acknowledging that regeneration may indeed result, we also speculate on the potential legacy and possible challenges for the people in East London left by this neoliberal and entrepreneurial strategy. </jats:p

Practical responses to confidentiality dilemmas in elite sport medicine

Aim:To examine the ethical challenges of upholding patient confidentiality in sports medicine and the practical responses of clinicians to these challenges. Method:Questionnaire survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews with the members of the British Olympic Association's Medical Committee and Physiotherapy Forum. Results:Clinicians identified three contextual factors that influenced issues related to patient confidentiality in sports medicine: the use of confidentiality waivers; the facilities available for treatment; and the cultural norms of elite sport. They further identified interpersonal strategies used to lessen or eradicate conflicts, including emphasising the benefits and avoidance of disbenefits for athletes and the potential negative consequences for others. Conclusions:Aspects of clinicians’ practice environment should be designed to enable compliance with the highest levels of ethical conduct. Professional associations should establish guidelines for clinicians’ interpersonal conduct in dealing with confidentiality issues and consider their provision of ethics-based continuous professional development. They should also petition for the establishment of athletes’ codes of conduct which identify a context-relevant understanding of ‘serious harm’ and how that might impact on information disclosure

Aquadynamics and the Athletocracy: Jennie Fletcher and the British Women's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay Team at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games

This article considers the part played by aquadynamics, or a concern for the technical properties of swimming costumes, in the career of Jennie Fletcher (1890–1968) who won Britain’s first individual Olympic female swimming medal (bronze) at the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912 and contributed to the first women’s team gold in the 4 × 100 metre Freestyle Relay. Her light silk one-piece racing swimsuit represented a new kind of modernity: the revealed sporting body enabled competitive principles, rather than modesty, to define the appearance of the female swimmer. The article also examines the place of the working-class competitor in our understanding of the early Games, an ‘athletocracy’ where performance, not background, enabled individuals to compete. The work therefore also explores the relevance of Fletcher’s birthplace, Leicester, in the development of amateur and professional swimming and in the production of swmming costumes for both sport and leisure.This research has been developed with the support of a De Montfort University Research Investment Fund grant for 2011–12 to look at the relationship between sport and fashion, particularly in the county of Leicestershire.

Modelling the transportation of primary aggregates in England and Wales: exploring initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions

Millions of tonnes of aggregates are transported across England and Wales each year, which causes constant concerns in regard to CO2 emissions. Much of that concern arises out of the long journeys from quarries to construction sites, and the fact that the main mode of transfer is by road. The aim of this paper is to describe the construction of a spatial decision support system (SDSS) to examine the impacts of scenarios to reduce the level of CO2 emissions. The SDSS is made up of a GIS containing a set of spatial models (including a spatial interaction model and a microsimulation model) underpinned by a detailed transport network of road and rail routes across England and Wales. The spatial interaction models are first calibrated to reproduce the existing set of flows of aggregates between quarries and local authority districts. The distance decay component is the travel distance equivalent across the road and rail networks. Based on these flows, linear models can be set up to estimate the amount of CO2 emissions associated with the existing set of flows. Then a series of what-if scenarios are set up which look at how changes in any part of the geography of production, the level of demand in certain areas or the transport process will impact the CO2 emissions. The paper demonstrates the capability of the SDSS in responding to the various spatial policies applied in different stages of the supply chain of the aggregates markets