The 2012 Olympic Games in Britain

1 Olympic Games in Britain in 2012 Summer It is not all good news for Britain based on the fact that the summer 2012 Olympic Games will be held in London. Even though there is a widespread perception that there are numerous advantages that will be brought about by the Olympic Games to the city of London and the whole country as well, it is an irrefutable fact that there are also some disadvantages associated with the games. Since the inception of the Olympic Games, the cities in which they have been held are believed to have reaped a great deal of benefits. Not only do these cities together with their habitats benefit financially, but also the attention of the entire world is focused on the host city (Rosner & Shropshire 2011). As a result, various aspects of the city including the mode of life, the infrastructure as well as issues to do with security and governance are brought to light (Poynter & MacRury 2009). This paper is going to look at the advantages in addition to disadvantages of the 2012 Olympic Games being held in London along with some of the objections to hosting these games.

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One of the major benefits that the city of London will reap as a result of hosting the 2012 Olympic Games is an increase in the rate of infrastructural development. It has been revealed that the games leave behind a great deal of improvements on infrastructure in every city where they are held (Essex 2004). The housing sector in London, for instance, has been revamped in order to offer shelter to millions of people who will be attending these games from other countries. The Olympic Games organizing committee, in order to meet the housing target, came up with a program to develop more than 5000 homes for visitors thus creating an Olympic village (Pthimon 2012). After the games these home will be left intact and will thus provide shelter for a large proportion of British nationals. However, one major disadvantage associated with creation of these homes is that the plan is being implemented at a time when the economic status of not only England but also the entire world has greatly deteriorated. The fact that a larger space will be required for creation of homes will in the long run lead to displacement of a significant number of poor people from their homes. Many people consider this as one of the major negative implications associated with the Olympic village. The cost of housing is also estimated to increase due to regeneration of the area. Fortunately, London’s economy is believed to have the capacity to easily cater for almost the entire construction. The economy will offer some safeguard from acute rises in price of housing during the Games (Pthimon 2012).

It is also presumed that the transport sector will benefit greatly as a result of the Olympic Games. Most of the major transport links will be upgraded so as to make it easier for the transportation of thousands of peoples who will be taking part in the games in one way or the other (Steinberg 2008). Some of the transport links that will be upgraded are the London East Line, the Jubilee line, extension to the DLR and the Channel Tunnel Shuttle link. Major

3 improvements will also be experienced in social infrastructure and amenity. An increase in the level of connectivity along with urban regeneration will result in the creation of a novel metropolitan space that provides support for growth of business and economy at large (Pthimon 2012). Competitive capacity of various local firms will be improved as a result of enhanced support for growth and redevelopment from the local people. The Olympic Games will also result in an increase in the level of exposure alongside media attention for companies, investors, sponsors and other business oriented entities based on the fact that the eyes of the entire world will be directed towards a single location (Great Britain Parliament House of Commons Culture 2010).

The tourism sector will also receive a major boost before, during as well as after the games. Most of the participants in the games together with thousands of spectators will travel around the country visiting different tourist attraction sites. As a result, revenue collected from this sector will improve significantly (Poynter & MacRury 2009). It is estimated that revenue collected from tourism associated activities during this period will assist in offsetting some of the losses that will have been incurred by the London Olympic Organizing Committee (Pthimon 2012).

Job creation is the other beneficial aspect that the people of London will obtain from the Olympic Games. Statistics reveal that the rate of unemployment within the region where the Olympic Games will be held is far much higher as compared to other parts of the country.

Therefore, even though the kinds of jobs these people will benefit from are short term (Meyer 2009), it is doubtless that this will be a major boost as far as offsetting unemployment in the area is concerned (Great Britain Parliament House of Commons Culture 2010).

4 Besides job creation, the Olympic Games will also enhance business opportunities within the game region as well as the entire city. Olympic Games are believed to have the potential to catalyze the pace as well as the scale of development. It is also presumed that the games will lead to an enhanced capability for comprehensive co-investments that culminates from public support together with institutional as well as private investment (Imrie, Lees & Raco 2009). Large scale ventures in the public sector, particularly for the most important infrastructure projects, play a significant role in instilling investor confidence even in times when the economic base may be unstable.

Despite the benefits of the 2012 Olympic Games being far reaching, there are some negative effects associated with these games. One of them is that the impact of the Olympic together with the Paralympics games have done little to filter down to the locals, and as a result various sports bodies around the country are calling on the government to put in place immediate tax breaks. It has also been revealed that instead of sports clubs in various parts of the country strengthening the drive together with the wave of a home Olympic Games, the opposite is true.

These clubs seem reluctant to identify potential game opportunities let alone expanding along with nurturing a novel generation of sporting young persons. It is indeed a shocking fact that most of these clubs do not recognize any benefit associated with the games being hosted in London (Preuss 2004).

Secondly, it is argued that even though the Whitewater facility established Lea Valley falls under the category of some of the greatest developments that the 2012 Olympic Games will bring to London, this facility will be turned into a tourist attraction site immediately after the games. As a result, the rental rates will increase tremendously to as high as £400 an hour; a cost that is almost totally impossible for young trainers to achieve (Pthimon 2012).

5 Some sections of society argue that the revenue which will be generated throughout the Games period will not benefit the sporting youngsters since strategic plans have not been laid down to link the sporting elite and youngsters in the grassroots ('Fun and games' 2011).

It is also believed that holding the 2012 Olympic Games in London exposes the city to a high risk of terrorism. Terrorism in conjunction with other aspects of deterioration in security forms some of the major objections given for hosting the Olympic Games in London. There is also widespread fear that the U.K. might fail to meet the expected capacity of offering a good Olympics. Failure to offer good Olympics is believed to have the potential to negatively inflict on tourism as well as the reputation of the country as a whole. This would tremendously dampen the efforts made in the country to enhance economic growth (Benedict 2012).

It has also been argued that during the Olympic Games most of the basic commodities that have for long been easily affordable to the people will be overpriced making it hard for ordinary people to purchase (Imrie, Lees & Raco 2009). Most of the transport links that have not experience traffic jam for a long time now will be congested with traffic. Crime incidences will increase with visitors forming the largest number of victims (Toohey & Veal 2007).

It can therefore be concluded that it is not all good news for the 2012 Olympic Games being held in Britain. There are advantages as well as disadvantages of these games to the people of Britain. Whereas the rate of infrastructural development will increase remarkably, the creation of an Olympic village will result in displacement of some people to obtain space. Even though the country will reap greatly from tourism, cases of terrorism are likely to be experienced in some areas. The negative side of hosting these games therefore forms a basis for the objection of the summer 2012 Olympic Games being held in Britain.

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