Olympic Stadium Research Articles

Comprehensive Objectives for PPP Projects: Case of Beijing Olympic Stadium

This paper is concerned with issues relating to the need for clear and comprehensive objectives by parties toPublic- Private Partnership Projects: the case of Beijing Olympic Stadium, which is the first Public–PrivatePartnership project (PPPs) sporting complex in china. The discussion is illustrated by reference to the numerousrisks encountered throughout the development and construction of the project and also revealing theconcessional agreement that lead to the use of public private partnerships in building the 2008 Beijing OlympicStadium. The paper begins by discussing the definition of PPP, nature, development, competitive bidding, totalinvestment and sharing formula of the project partners, structure, operation process of the Beijing OlympicStadium (Bird’s Nest), the disagreement between the Project Company and Beijing Municipal Government(BMG) and also elucidate the three major disputes associated with the project and then give an overview of thedisputes resolution process in China.This case study also highlighted the intricacies seen, both in the implication of cancelling the retractable roofand the critical lessons learnt from the PPP project, as regards to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium. However,even with all the numerous disputes, risks , negotiation and re-negotiation, the project was completed within thestipulated period with a touch of unimaginable structural design at a reasonable cost, which happens to go a longway in assisting the successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.The recommendation and lessons learnt from this case study includes that government support and commitmentare very vital for any unique project especially in innovative and complex design structure such as the BeijingNational Stadium (Bird’s Nest). Hence, during the signing of the preliminary agreement any project, awell-defined project scope must be visibly stated, formulated and clearly defined prior before signing theagreement. That the sharing of comprehensive common project aims and objectives must be the ultimate priorityof all stakeholders associated in the venture. And also the importance of engaging in a proper and effective riskmanagement strategy because private and public sector interests must work together at all times, for successfulcompletion of the project such as hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The Temperament of a City: A Postscript to Post-Olympic Beijing

There are two kinds of amazement in art and architecture: one relies on the ingenuity of artifice to arouse a feeling of enchantment, while the other causes an awe-inspiring ecstasy through the shock of the new. Beijing may have won the race in the latter, with spectacles such as the Olympic Games, but does this prove that a new Beijing has been reinvented? This paper examines the two kinds of amazement to examine two pairs of showcase Olympic buildings: 1) Beijing International Airport’s Terminal 3 and the Olympic Tennis Centre and 2) the Olympic Stadium and the CCTV Tower – to ask what they say about Beijing, and its temperament. It also questions whether or not it is possible to reinvent a new city once its temperament has been formed, and in what way this temperament may be related to the creation of public space, or place.

The Temperament of a City: A Postscript to Post-Olympic Beijing

There are two kinds of amazement in art and architecture: one relies on the ingenuity of artifice to arouse a feeling of enchantment, while the other causes an awe-inspiring ecstasy through the shock of the new. Beijing may have won the race in the latter, with spectacles such as the Olympic Games, but does this prove that a new Beijing has been reinvented? This paper examines the two kinds of amazement to examine two pairs of showcase Olympic buildings: 1) Beijing International Airport’s Terminal 3 and the Olympic Tennis Centre and 2) the Olympic Stadium and the CCTV Tower – to ask what they say about Beijing, and its temperament. It also questions whether or not it is possible to reinvent a new city once its temperament has been formed, and in what way this temperament may be related to the creation of public space, or place.

The Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Transition

Many 20th century sports facilities are in need of upgrading according to present standards and the 1938 (1952) Olympic Stadium of Helsinki is no exception to the rule. The international sports federations increase their requirements and security issues become more prominent by the year. Finland’s largest stadium is mainly used in summer for soccer matches, athletics, rock concerts and other events, and additional usage throughout the year would be welcome in order to strengthen the venue’s financial position and to pay for the extensive maintenance and renovations. At the same time the stadium is a popular historic site that plays an important role in the collective memory of the Finns and needs to retain its character as cultural heritage. Many delegates have visited this outstanding example of Modern Movement Heritage during the last docomomo International Conference that took place in Helsinki last August. Now, the building needs to be improved.

Seeing beyond the Millennium Trilogy in Stockholm

march–april 2013 • 5 photo : j . a . alcaide notebook Seeing beyond the Millennium Trilogy in Stockholm S tieg Larsson. The Nobel prizes. Tomas Tranströmer. The mention of Stockholm invokes several immediate literary associations , but there’s much more to this city and its literature. A city of fourteen islands and fifty-seven bridges, Stockholm is best viewed on bicycle and on foot, alternating between rides along open vistas and walks through the narrow, cobbled streets of Gamla Stan, the city’s medieval section. Science Fiction Bokhandeln, a bookstore devoted to the genre, is among the shops and bakeries of this neighborhood. A literary destination for children and children’s literature enthusiasts , Stockholm’s concert hall is the venue for not only the Nobel Prize in Literature but also the world’s largest prize in children’s and young-adult literature, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (alma). And at Junibacken Museum, children can play in and travel through their favorite books. For adult readers, Stockholm’s public libraries choose a book for “Stockholm Läser,” a citywide reading program with reading circles and discussion groups. Last year’s book was En dåres försvarstal, by August Strindberg. In 2013 readers will be discussing Lena Andersson’s Var det bra så? Eva Anzelius Jonson, marketing manager of the Stockholm Public Libraries, quantified the use of Stockholm’s forty-three libraries, which had more than 8.7 million visitors in 2011, approximately 4.9 million of which were physical, as opposed to virtual, visits. Stockholm is an active city, where it’s common to see commuters biking within inches of buses. Each year in June, runners gather for the Stockholm Marathon, which Runner’s World has listed among the world’s top ten marathons. The course begins just outside of and ends inside the 1912 Olympic Stadium. – Michelle Johnson Michelle Johnson, WLT’s managing editor, visited Stockholm in May 2012 for the ALMA ceremony. Reading and Listening “Dear Old Stockholm” The Stockholm Concerts Stan Getz & Chet Baker The Stockholm Octavo + the “Miscellany” on the author’s website (karenengelmann.com) Karen Engelmann “Emmylou” The Lion’s Roar First Aid Kit Montecore: The Silence of the Tiger Jonas Hassen Khemiri, tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles How to Fare Well and Stay Fair Adnan Mahmutović (See page 19 of this issue for an essay by Mahmutović.) The Serious Game Hjalmar Söderberg, tr. Eva Claeson ...

Olympic stadiums in their urban environment: a question of design and cultural significance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This relationship is considered as key to understanding the cultural significance of these exceptional event‐based buildings. It helps to explain present challenges faced by their conservation and raises the issue of considering likely heritage values at the design stage of stadiums.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on a periodization of the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This periodization proposes a six stage typology, starting from the stadium of Olympia at the Hellenistic period. It combines an analysis of the stadium architecture itself and the integration of Olympic facilities within their urban setting and the city at large.FindingsThe article highlights that Olympic stadiums have progressively been isolated from the city environment they are located in. This isolation can both be observed at the scale of the building, through the progressive adoption of arena‐shaped envelopes, and at the scale of the city through the clustering of Olympic facilities in campus‐like sites. Although it can be explained by functional and city‐marketing requirements, it is argued that this isolation will hamper an adaptive reuse of these facilities once the Olympic event is over. It is further suggested that the conservation of Olympic stadiums should be considered at the design stage of these buildings, considering their potential outstanding socio‐cultural values.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on the analysis of Olympic stadiums solely. It may have been completed and refined by a comparison with other stadiums, especially those dedicated to football competitions. It means that the research results are closely related to a very specific type of stadium, which is designed for a once in lifetime a time event, repeated throughout the world every four years.Originality/valueThe main originality of the work consists in the combination of a building‐ and a settlement‐oriented typology within the periodization. It has been further considered that considering the stadium of Olympia at the Hellenistic period within the typology would help to better describe a general movement from opened‐ to closed‐stadium environments that definitively finds its roots in the Greek Antiquity.

AHP-Based Approach for Location Planning of Pedestrian Zones: Application in Montréal, Canada

Location planning for pedestrian zones is a multifaceted problem. The selection of best location from a list of potential stations involves consideration of different technical, economical, environmental, and social factors. For some of these factors, numerical values can be provided, but the others are based on the qualitative data. In this paper, a multicriteria decision analysis approach is presented based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for location planning of pedestrian zones under lack of quantitative data. A decision-making committee comprised of representatives of city transportation officials, public administration, and city residents or users is formed to select the criteria/subcriteria for evaluating pedestrian zones. Five locations for pedestrian zones are considered for evaluation in the city of Montréal: namely, Downtown, Jean Drapeau, Olympic stadium, Old Montréal, and Saint Denis. The results of this study indicate that the downtown area is the best choice for a pedestrian zone. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the influence of criteria and subcriteria weights on the decision-making process.

A visitor's guide to the ancient Olympics

What was it like to attend the Olympics in 388 B.C.? Would the experience resemble Olympic festivals as we celebrate them today? This remarkable book transports us back to the heyday of the city-state and classical Greek civilization. It invites us to enter this distant, alien, but still familiar culture and discover what the Greeks did and didn't do during five thrilling days in August 2,400 years ago. In the Olympic Stadium there were no stands, no shade-and no women allowed. Visitors sat on a grassy bank in the searing heat of midsummer to watch naked athletes compete in footraces, the pentathlon, horse and chariot races, and three combat sports-wrestling, boxing, and pankration, everyone's favorite competition, with virtually no rules and considerable blood and pain. This colorfully illustrated volume offers a complete tour of the Olympic site exactly as athletes and spectators found it. The book evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of the crowded encampment; introduces the various attendees (from champions and charlatans to aristocrats and prostitutes); and explains the numerous exotic religious rituals. Uniquely detailed and precise, this guide offers readers an unparalleled opportunity to travel in time, back to the excitement of ancient Olympia.

The Olympics and the National Health Service: a definition of health

When a 16-year old Chinese girl, Ye Shiwen, swims at a speed that even the world's best male swimmers struggle to match, and Usain Bolt and his fellow sprinters run like the wind, our minds turn to the limits of human endeavour.1 Health, as the Olympic Games have reminded us, is the purpose of medicine. The World Health Organization's age-old mantra of ‘Health for All’ often seems an abstract slogan since health is a concept we struggle harder to define than disease. Perhaps the definition of health is being in the peak of physical condition that allows an athlete to win an Olympic gold medal? Perhaps it is nothing more than happiness, despite our physical state? If the Olympic Games conjure images of finely honed athletes in our minds, the 2012 Olympic Games will be remembered by health professionals for the way the opening ceremony celebrated the National Health Service (NHS). Dancing doctors and nurses, Great Ormond Street Hospital, a pulse beat that circled the Olympic Stadium, were prominent features of a ‘Best of British’ sequence masterminded by film director Danny Boyle. This was too political a statement for some. A visceral and ideological struggle for the soul of the NHS in 2012 cannot have escaped Boyle, an astute social commentator. Did celebrating the place of the NHS in the nation's psyche support the arguments and the campaign of this year's antireformists? Possibly, but Boyle also reminded of us that along with James Bond, Mr Bean, William Shakespeare, cricket, David Beckham, the Queen and heroic failure, the NHS is a peculiarly British institution. In a planet dominated by insurance-based health systems, the NHS remains an experiment that fascinates the world and provokes fierce and passionate debate within these shores. But the Olympic Games also reminded us that flaws and failure are much more common than success. Perfection is a dream that is rarely achieved. Are humans ever more perfect than the moment of birth? Only one person or team wins a gold medal in any event. Our lives and bodies are flawed. Our organs, dreams and aspirations fail. The NHS is no different. Flaws and failures are ever present; perfection is a dream impossible to achieve. Yet the NHS strives, in its way, for ‘Health for All’ – and that human endeavour might be more fulfilling once health itself is satisfactorily defined.

Olympian Dreams

Olympian Dreams

1976 Montreal Olympics: Case Study of Project Management Failure

AbstractA successful engineering project must include its timely and economic completion. A project management failure can lead to delays and cost overruns. One example of a project that greatly exceeded its projected budget is the construction of the multiple facilities for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. These included the Olympic Stadium, a velodrome for bicycle events, and the Olympic Village to house the athletes. This case study reviews the circumstances of the cost increases and the design decisions and other circumstances that led to them. The difficulties were brought on by an unrealistic schedule to complete the facilities before the fixed start date of the Games, combined with an unusually cavalier attitude toward project costs, exacerbated by political tensions. Although the original cost estimate for the facilities was $120 million, the final cost was $1.5 billion, with $830 million for the main stadium alone. Part of the justification for the expense of the facilities was the hope that t...

Olympics impact 'not just power'

It has widely been predicted over the last three years that the 2012 Olympic Games will cause a significant drain on electricity supplies in London. Olympic stadium in Stratford shares local real-estate and power cables with many of the UK's biggest data-centre facilities. Although data-centre operators may feel immune to fluctuations in supply, other aspects of their operations are more susceptible to disruption.

A report from the 42nd Annual Meeting of the International Continence Society (October 15-19, Beijing, China)

As Beijing was selected as the site for this year's International Continence Society (ICS) meeting, crowds of locals navigating through the subway train lines and tourists lining up for access to the Forbidden City and other landmarks were joined by a less numerous but a still significant number of researchers, scientists and practitioners working on urinary tract diseases and disorders going to the China National Convention Center to attend the podium and poster sessions. Located next to the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium and offering grand views over the Olympic park from the upper floor where non-discussion posters were displayed, the modern facilities allowed for a smooth, seamless meeting during which a number of highly relevant new findings were discussed. The following report summarizes selected presentations on pharmacotherapy and drug candidates for overactive bladder and other common diseases of the urinary tract.

BHOPAL’S LEGACY Union Carbide acquisition shadows Dow at London Olympics

Thousands of people perished in 1984 when a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, leaked methyl isocyanate gas. The legacy of that industrial accident—the world’s worst—continues to haunt Dow Chemical , which bought the plant’s majority owner, Union Carbide, in 2001. On Nov. 15, the appropriateness of Dow’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games in London was questioned at a U.K. parliamentary hearing. Dow is a global partner of the International Olympic Committee and has funded an $11 million fabric wrap that will surround the Olympic Stadium next summer. Members of Parliament on the Culture, Media & Sport Committee expressed concern about Dow’s environmental, ethical, and social ideals. But Sebastian Coe, an Olympic gold medal winner, former member of Parliament, and chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic & Paraolympic Games, defended the sponsorship. “We are satisfied that Dow were not the owners, the operators, or were involved with that plant at ...

Delivering London 2012: the Olympic Stadium

The UK Olympic Stadium, which will host athletic events and the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is designed to be converted to a home for British athletics. An innovative use of permanent and temporary forms was developed to meet the 80 000 games capacity and 25 000 legacy capacity, with the final structuring consisting of a permanent sunken concrete bowl and a removable upper seating tier. To save space and drive efficiencies, the majority of spectator facilities were moved outside the structure and the upper seating tier rakes outwards, resulting in the lightest stadium of its size in the world. The rapid delivery of the stadium in just 34 months was achieved through a strategy of prefabrication of concrete and steel elements and just-in-time delivery, supported by a strong collaborative team-working ethic.

Calling the Shots

The Olympic Games promise great things; world peace and the transformation of the host city are but two ambitions of the Olympic Movement. The benefits and changes that the 2012 Olympics are supposed to bring to the London Borough of Newham—which will host some 80 per cent of the Olympic events—have been much lauded by the Olympic apparatchiks who typically proselytise about the transformation of communities, countries and individuals via the staging of the Games. The local Organising Committee and others—typically within the real estate sector—are the people who shape these sentiments into particular land deals that will serve to justify the plethora of deals, contracts and developments. Whilst the Olympics are about transformations, ostensibly in the lives of athletes, ordinary people and communities, transformations of an even more lasting sort occur in the Olympic neighbourhood through massive construction and servicing contracts. The Olympics are also about discipline which plays out not only in terms of the preparation of athletes to perform at their utmost, but is imperative to all the arrangements required to host such a huge event. For the good of the Games, people living in the shadow of the 2012 Olympic stadium face having their movements and their neighbourhoods subjected to all manner of prohibitions and limitations.

Civic and other public planting in ancient Greece

The Western tradition of civic planting originates in ancient Greece, and especially in ancient Athens. Civic planting — the planting of the public spaces of a city for the benefit of all the citiz...

The Impact of the London Olympics Announcement on Property Prices

This study estimates the impact of the London 2012 Olympics announcement on property prices. Using a self-constructed dataset of a sample of property transactions, it is estimated that properties in host boroughs are sold between 2.1 and 3.3 per cent higher, depending on the definition of the impact area. A similar investigation based on radius rings suggests that properties up to three miles away from the main Olympic stadium sell for 5 per cent higher. It is estimated that the overall impact on the price of properties in host boroughs amounts to £1.4 billion, having substantial social and financial implications for existing residents.

Research on OREMS-based large-scale emergency evacuation using vehicles

In densely populated urban areas, in the event of the toxic gases leak, how to accurately determine the risky zone and take effective measures to evacuate inhabitants quickly out of dangerous areas and minimize the unexpected losses is a tropical topic in China. First, the ALOHA code defined any interested accidents scenarios. For any different exposure times and concentrations, the distances down wind direction could be determined, which eventually generated the dead zone, wounded zone, injured zone and evacuation zone. Then, it presented the procedure of an emergency evacuation routes selection, the choice of the principle of refuges and shelters for evacuated inhabitants, as well as evacuation traffic organizations, vehicle assignments, real-time communications and other traffic evacuation strategies. Finally, the OREMS code was proposed to study the sudden leak accident and design emergency response policies (ERP). A sudden gaseous leakage incident in Tianjin Olympic stadium was chosen as an example to verify the raw ERP including the evacuation road network design, the evacuation time for vehicles, vehicle running conditions and the possible road congestions. Results showed that when the radium of the emergency evacuation scope is about 3 km, the time for evacuation of 50% vehicles is proper.

Caracterización del comportamiento dinámico de la tribuna occidental del estadio Pascual Guerrero durante un concierto musical

Durante el concierto musical llevado a cabo el 27 de diciembre de 2006 en el estadio olímpico Pascual Guerrero de Cali, se monitoreó la respuesta dinámica de la tribuna occidental debido a la excitación del público. Seis acelerómetros fueron localizados en diferentes puntos sobre un pórtico de concreto reforzado realizando una adquisición continua de datos. Este artículo presenta las frecuencias observadas en la respuesta de la estructura debidas a la interacción público-estructura durante el evento musical en el estadio. El resultado significativo de la investigación es la clasificación de la respuesta dinámica de la estructura para los géneros musicales que no han sido considerados en similares investigaciones: salsa, merengue, vallenato y reguetón.