bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Clifford Coonan

418 days to go

Come September 2008, when the Olympics road show has packed  its bags and the world  has switched its attention to  London   2012, the people of Beijing will be examining what is the legacy of the games.

It's always a sticky wicket, because some Olympics are bigger than others in terms of the footprint they leave on a city. City fathers in Barcelona were  patting themselves on the back in the autumn of 1992 - the Olympics transformed their city, turning a  hip European destination into a holiday centre with a massively improved infrastructure. The city has never looked back.

This week, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the 2012 Games would produce the greatest long-term benefits of any host city since Barcelona.

'London will be the most successful Olympic Games since Barcelona in 1992 in terms of its regeneration legacy. As the next three Olympic Games follow London, we will still be getting the legacy benefits in terms of housing and employment,' he said during a visit by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He said after the games, 9,000 houses would be built in or around the Olympic Park in east London as part of a 20-year programme to bring in 40,000 new homes.

Livingstone did not mention the legacy of London's controversial logo, which the British government said it would not be asking organisers to reconsider despite demands to do so. It's a logo that is unlikely to be remembered, except as part of a 'don't even go there' lecture in marketing colleges around Britain.

The IOC said evaluating the Olympic legacy was an early consideration when it was deciding on which city should host the games, but Livingstone's words must sound like fighting talk to the Chinese. Surely no Olympics can ever have had such a profound change on a city's structure, on the collective psychology, and on the general outlook of the people, than the Beijing Games.

While London may have more public housing and improved infrastructure because of the 2012 Games, Beijing has changed dramatically, fundamentally even, because of the Olympics. So much of old Beijing has been knocked down in the name of the Olympics, and so much new infrastructure has been constructed because of the event, that the city's entire personality has been altered.

While much of the reconstruction  would have happened anyway, driven by double-digit economic growth in China and the opening up  to foreign investment, the Olympics have played a powerful symbolic role in shifting development from the mainland's biggest city and its financial capital, Shanghai, to the traditionally sleepy political centre Beijing.

A subway network, as opposed to the current handful of metropolitan lines, is being built in the name of the games. Magnificent buildings such as Rem Koolhaas' CCTV building, which will be one of the architectural wonders of the world when it is finished, are coming to fruition because of impetus provided by the Olympics. There is a strong degree of confidence when you talk to the Beijing organisers about the Olympic legacy.

'Every Olympics is different,' said Sun Weide, deputy director for communications of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games (Bocog).

'For Beijing our goal is to have a high level Olympic Games with Chinese characteristics with a strong legacy. We will have 31 high-level competitive venues for the event,' said Sun.

'What we intend to bring to the games, and leave as our legacy, are three things - the hi-tech games, the Green Olympics and the People's Olympics,' said Sun. Half a million people have volunteered to help with the Olympics in Beijing. The organisers need 100,000 people. This is illustrative of just how deeply the Olympics have entered the Chinese collective psyche.

In  developed countries, the Olympics are essentially just another sporting event, albeit a major one. But in China, the Olympics have become a symbol for the country's re-emergence on the international stage.

Bocog is not worried about facilities lying idle. Eleven of the arenas are existing facilities, and eight are temporary. The facilities will be used after the games, because there is a growing demand for public areas in the capital. And the subways and motorways and ring roads are unlikely to empty when the games are over. The Olympic village will transform the western part of the city, making it more than the university area it is at the moment.

Eight of the Olympic venues will be finished by August,  most of the rest by the end of the year. The Olympic Stadium would be ready in March 2008, a bit longer than expected because of its multi-functional role, said Sun.

The Olympic Village will be transformed into a residential area. Many of the Olympic sites are in university areas, so they will also find an automatic populace. As with every games, there is a fair quotient of innuendo doing the rounds. For example, the rumours that the aquatic centre, the Water Cube, would be dismantled after the games. Sun denied this, saying it will be turned into a water entertainment park, 'excellent for children'.

There is no doubt  the Olympics will impact on London, but whether the effect will be as major as Livingstone suggests, particularly compared to Beijing, is questionable. Stop someone on the street in London and ask them about the legacy on the city,  chances are you will get a raised eyebrow, a shrug of the shoulders or a complaint about rezoning.

But in Beijing, anyone you ask is more likely to say the Olympics will be a showcase for how much has changed on the mainland and what China has to offer.

Full speed ahead

Work continues for Beijing

The number of Olympic venues which will be completed by August, a year from the games  8



Beijing trumps London ballyhoo