Geography Teaching Today

This lesson focuses on the regeneration of the area that will be the Olympic Park. The Olympic Park will transform the area from a poor quality environment into a high quality urban park. Regeneration aims to transform the social, economic and environmental fortunes of an area. In reality the measure of success is mixed and often there are often unintended consequences.

Key questions:

• How will the environment change?

• Will the changes bring improvements to quality of the environment and quality of life of local residents?

Key Concepts:
Place
Space
Scale
Human processes   

How will the environment change?
Much of the 500 acre Olympic Park Site is polluted Brownfield; it will be cleaned and used to create the largest urban park in Europe. 52 pylons have been removed and 200 km of electricity cables moved underground. The Lea Valley’s polluted waterways will be cleaned and new wildlife habitats created including a major new inner city wetland habitat that will also play an important role in managing flood risk around the Park.

Will the changes bring improvements to quality of the environment and quality of life of local residents?
Access - around the waterways will be increased, encouraging local communities to enjoy and use the river for recreational activities. Jobs – Around 12,000 new permanent jobs will be created in the Olympic Park alone as well as thousands of temporary jobs. Infrastructure improvements – £17bn will be spent on transport improvements, including extensions to the Docklands Light Railway) and East London rail lines. New housing – The Olympic Village will be converted into affordable housing after the Games finish. In total, there will be 9,000 new homes built. These will be mainly offered to key workers, for example, teachers and nurses.

New amenities – five of the new sports venues will remain for use by the local community.

Opponents argue that the Games will mean some people will lose out:  

Local business – In a survey undertaken by the Thames Gateway Forum, 26% respondents replied that the Olympics will not be good for their organisation. Around 9% of the 212 businesses, which are required to move away by the end of the 2007, have yet to agree an ‘exit strategy’. For most, this is because they cannot afford the cost of relocation. Local residents –Despite offers of alternative accommodation and £8,500 compensation, a minority of residents, including the elderly and vulnerable groups are reluctant to move home. If they are still unwilling to move by the end of 2007, they will be legally evicted.

Click on an activity:
Starter
Main activity 1
Main activity 2
Plenary

Interactive:

Changing space and place in East London

Word version of changing pace and place in East London

Downloads:

Newham fact sheet