Implications and Issues for London Site Residents

The Olympic Delivery Authority have agreed to undertake in the process of organizing the London 2012 Games, one of the biggest urban regeneration projects seen in Europe for many years, destined to create a new town the size of Exeter once the Games have finished (ODA, 2006). Through examining past Olympic Games, this paper explores some of the soft legacy implications of the London 2012 Games and in particular the fate of the only ‘residents’ being relocated from the Olympic Site, twenty-one traveller families. The paper concludes with a discussion on how legacy can be sustainable and for the benefit of the whole community rather than particular sections

Long-term legacy implications for Olympic Games

Celebrations have been occurring throughout history from the commemoration of phases of the moon, to historical and cultural festivals in addition to life cycle celebrations of birth, marriage and death. Events came about through the commercialisation of popular celebrations and in the UK as our population becomes more culturally diverse, so do the events appearing showing diversifying into the leisure and every aspect of people’s everyday lives. All these events have impacts and legacies and the larger the size of event the greater these ‘consequences’, with the Olympics having the greatest impacts and legacies. These large scale events also have major benefits including destination image and urban developments, the legacy left behind after the event is held. In order for these benefits to maximise the long-term potential, legacy planning as early as possible is paramount. Case studies of the Sydney Games show that whilst they have been known as ‘the best games ever’ their legacy planning post the games, beginning in 2000, were negligible and the consequences of this are on-going. For the organisers of the Barcelona 1992 Games, their built environment and the re-modelling of the city, was part of a larger scale long-term redevelopment and their legacy planning was part of an overall vision for the city. What appears to be a long-term strategic plan for London, especially in relation to the social impacts of the four main boroughs involved in the staging of the 2012 Games, could become known as the ‘London’ model of urban rejuvenation for future mega-event planners, particularly in relation to the long-term future legacy. This chapter sets put to evaluate the lessons learned from the past Games of Sydney and Barcelona in relation to legacy planning, especially the social consequences, and the ‘best-practice’ lessons to be incorporated within the London 2012 planning in relation to future long-term legacies. London won the right to host the 2012 games on the basis of their regeneration plans for an area of London in socially deprived conditions. All the ‘paper’ promises within the bid document talk of the major regeneration project with the associated large scale spend on infrastructure, it is vital that the promises are turned into long-term viable legacy

What is the Evidence of the Experience of Having a Fall across the Life Course? A Qualitative Synthesis

Background: Alleviating the economic and human impacts of falls and fear of falling are critical health and social care issues. Despite some proven effectiveness of a number of falls prevention intervention programmes, uptake remains low and attrition high. There is a need for greater understanding of social, cultural and individual, life course positioning of falling, actual or perceived. Objective: To address the question: what is the evidence of the experience of having a fall across the life course? Method: A qualitative evidence synthesis with key electronic databases searched from 1990-2011 using terms related to the experience of falls and falling. Selected papers presented data from the perspective of the person who had fallen. Synthesis included collaborative coding of ‘incidents’ related to falling, theoretical sampling of studies to challenge emerging theories, and constant comparison of categories to generate explanations. Results: The initial focus was to access and assess the evidence for the experiences of a fall across the life course but the authors’ systematic search revealed that the vast majority of the published literature focuses on the experience of a fall in later life. Only 2 of the 16 studies included, provided perspectives of falling from a life stage other than that of older adults. However older adults’ perceptions of their falls experiences are likely to be influenced by lifelong attitudes and beliefs about falling and older age. Synthesis identified that a falls incident or fear of falling induces explicit or implicit ‘Fear’. Consequences are related to notions of ‘Control’ and ‘Social standing’. Recovery work involves ‘Adaptation’, ‘Implications’ ‘Social standing’ and ‘Control’. ‘Explanation’ is sought. Conclusions: How and why people make sense of falling across the life course should have positive impacts on developing falls intervention programmes that people will want to engage with and adhere to

Creativity and class: Review essay

This essay offer a critical review of form of class analysis presented in the works of the economic geographer Richard Florida. In it we use the example of the sale of the New Zealand internet auction site Trade Me to the Australian media group Fairfax to illuminate some of the problematic features of Florida's work

Education for Citizenship

Commencement address given by Deborah Jones Merritt, Director of The John Glenn Institute For Public Service and Public Policy, to the Autumn 2004 graduating class of The Ohio State University, St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio, December 12, 2004