London 2012: securing urban Olympic delivery

Abstract

The 2012 Olympics are intended to leave a beneficial legacy that will transform East London's most deprived communities. The implementation of this legacy, and its Mega-event precursor, has necessitated an intensive process of urban regeneration and concomitant securitization. These twin processes have impinged greatly upon the everyday lives of the communities that live and work within proximity of Olympic delivery. This paper considers the resonance of the autocratic securitization that accompanies Olympic hosting. Drawing upon ethnographic research, it provides analysis of the discourses, significance and impact of Olympic delivery security. It contextualizes this securitization through analysis of the highly populated, ethnically and racially diverse, economically deprived, urban community that these measures are being imposed upon. The findings indicate that the issues the 2012 Games faced throughout London's Olympic delivery, both distinctive and generic, may have taken on new resonance because of the uniqueness of the urban context to which they are being applied.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Brunel University Isambard bursary monies.

Notes

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⁵ The Olympic Park constitutes an area of 2.5sq km. The centrepiece of this area is the 80,000 seat Olympic stadium. It also includes the Olympic village, which is intended o be converted into residential apartments post-Games. A 6000 seat Velodrome, a 12,000 capacity basketball arena, a hockey centre, an aquatics centre, a handball arena, a broadcast centre, a water polo arena, many recreational spaces and the largest urban shopping mall in Europe – Westfield Stratford city.

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