In this case study, Sunghoon Jung, who served as an Olympic Advisory committee member for the 2018 Winter Olympics, discusses new venue construction, sustainable design priorities and the importance of legacy planning.
When the recently concluded 2018 winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, came to an end, there were plenty of indelible memories to choose from. The futuristic swarm of drones that formed the image of the Olympic rings in the sky during the opening ceremony. extraordinary feats of athleticism and physical and mental endurance. emotional medal ceremonies. and a closing ceremony that was equal parts celebratory, spectacular and poignant.
But residents and businesses in Pyeongchang, and across the region, might ultimately have a very different takeaway from these Games. because record-setting performances and vivid memories are only part of the story. There is an extraordinary amount of preparation, construction and investment—and a correspondingly significant economic and civic cost—that comes with hosting the Games, and it remains to be seen whether that cost was a wise one for South Korea in general, and for Pyeongchang, specifically.
Unfortunately for many Olympic host cities in the past, the answer has typically been a resounding ‘No’.
Spending billions of dollars on architecture and infrastructure is an Olympic tradition almost as familiar as the iconic Olympic flame itself. These monies are usually proposed and invested with the promise that the construction will have a positive, lasting effect on the citizenry and the economy—only to watch as venues are abandoned and promises go unkept. Because, as has been demonstrated all too typically throughout history, those promises typically fall far short of reality.
The famous (or perhaps infamous) case of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which hosted the 2016 summer Olympics, stands out as a recent and egregious example of exorbitant and poorly considered spending. The price tag for the two-week spectacle, according to an analysis by the Associated Press, amounted to approximately $13.1bn, with the cost Camiseta Selección de fútbol de Portugal for sports-related venues making up just over $2bn. and for all that investment, it’s what happens next to many of those expensive new structures that is the real eye-opener. just six months after the athletes, fans and media Camiseta Boca Juniors members packed up and left at the conclusion of the 2016 Games, the Olympic village in Rio had turned into a virtual ghost town, and the majority of new sporting venues were already falling into idle disrepair.
A new approach
Fortunately, growing recognition that these wasteful and damaging practices of the past should not be repeated in the future has prompted the international Olympic committee (IOC) to take action. The IOC’s Olympic agenda 2020, a plan first released in late 2014, serves as both a kind of statement of principles and a strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement. It was with that document and those principles in mind that the national Olympic committee of Korea, coordinating with the local state government and the sports Ministry of the federal government of Korea, began work years ago to create a legacy plan (and hopefully set a precedent) for how newly constructed Olympic architecture should be used and operated once the games are over.
The results of that planning, in consultation with the newly created Pyeongchang Olympics Advisory Committee, provides some interesting insights into how to create an effective legacy plan—including specific ways that Olympic Camiseta Sevilla FC host cities can plan for economically viable and sustainable infrastructure improvements.
Gangneung Ice Arena is a new indoor venue that was built to host the world figure skating and short track speed skating events during the recent Pyeongchang 2018 winter Olympics and as a permanent legacy facility for local recreational use. Image, courtesy: FOAMHAND
Venues and viability
Out of 13 venues used for the 2018 winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, seven were newly built. arguably the most significant venue, the arena that would host the opening and closing ceremonies, was one of the trickiest to plan. creating a viable legacy plan for this facility began with debate over whether it would be a permanent or a temporary venue—or some combination of the two.
The final decision to create a facility that would just be used for the opening and closing ceremonies meant that no sports would be played in the arena and the space would function more like a performance venue than a sporting arena. with that in mind, planners were able to keep costs under control and address sustainability issues. now that the games are over, the temporary venue is being deconstructed and the space converted to an Olympic Plaza celebrating the legacy and history of the Pyeongchang winter Olympics.
Fortunately, of the dozen venues hosting actual sporting events,null