To what extent can the Olympics, help to regenerate an urban area and Essay

To what extent can the Olympics, help to regenerate an urban area and produce lasting benefits Give reference to at least two - Essay Example The International Olympics Committee, the task of which is to evaluate the facilities of each city that bids for holding the Olympics, thoroughly examines the sustainability, accessibility and integrated city development (IOC, 2005). The Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012, for example, stresses out that even bidding for holding the games helps candidate cities to develop positive legacies from the bid, no matter whether the city is awarded the Games or not (ibid). Therefore, it can be said that even an attempt to hold the Olympic games positively influences urban areas in terms of infrastructure, accommodation and technology development. The following factors are evaluated by the International Olympics Committee when choosing a host a city for the Games (IOC, 2001): general national, regional and candidate city characteristics legal aspects customs and immigration formalities environmental protection and meteorology finance marketing spo rts & concept paralympic games Olympic village medical and health services security accommodation transport technology communication and media services olypmism and culture guarantees Consequently, keeping up high standards and complying to the requirements of IOC and International Sports Federations regarding urban development becomes a priority task for each city attempting to stage the Games. After 1960, Summer and Winter Olympic games became extremely visible in the sports world events and started involving large-scale transformations of urban areas, which, as a result, lead to more intense regional development. Advanced transportation facilities and even multiple Olympic villages have become the features of contemporary Olympic games (Chalkley and Essex, 1999). A bright example of how holding the Olympics can change a place is Park City of Utah. From a hill-side mining town, which it originally was, Park City became an internationally acclaimed arts center and a popular tourist ic destination (Arias, 2010). The city’s design and architecture were changed for holding the 2002 Olympic games. Lower slopes of Park City’s valley were made into easy suburban dwelling gave dramatic views of the sporting venues. Straight parallel blocks have intensified highway-to-recreation traffic, while recreational zones got combined with commercial ones, thus having extended the growth ratio of the urban plan. Today Utah Olympic Park, which was initially build in preparation for Winter Olympic Games of 2002, is a popular place used by Olympic and development level athletes as a training center. In addition, the Games gave the city such facilities as 2002 Winter Olympics and Ski Museum, a day lodge, a splash pool, ziplines, and a mountain coaster, among others. On this matter Jill Adler (2010) writes that holding the Games contributed to the growth of Utah’s tourism and convention industries, as well as facilitated economic development. The 29,000-square-f oot three-story building of Park City’s Sports Park is holding a museum, an Olympic highlight gallery, a cafe, a retail shop, a research library, sports exhibits and decks for watching freestyle training areas. Furthermore, the park is frequently used for music, lecture and film series, as well as hosts weddings and banquets (Grass, 1999). Therefore, reconstruction of the city in preparing it for the Olympics has improved the area’s economy and made a small mining city a center for sports, culture and