Megaeventos e regeneração urbana - o caso de Londres 2012

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to study the urban regeneration plan for the East London area designed in the context of the application of the city of London to a worldwide event, the 2012 Olympic Games. This work addresses the long transformation process of London, and especially of the East London, over the past decade, taking into account the scale, depth and importance of the interventions. Above all, it reflects about the process, taking into account the increasing use and recognized importance of such events as a strategy of recognition, positioning, and local and international affirmation. These events are also an opportunity to promote the transformation and development of a certain dysfunctional sector, generating an urban regeneration process. In a legal and exceptional action context, these events have the capacity to create conditions to gather a diverse group participating entities, public and private, allowing the use of substantial funding to trigger a regeneration process. The Olympic complex in London, now named Queen Elizabeth Park, is located in Stratford, a borough of East London, strongly affected by the industrialization process since the XIX century. The choice of this location to host the Olympic Games is not random, as it is integrated in a continuous regeneration process that has been explored over several decades. Taking into account the foregoing, the present work aims to map and reflect on urban regeneration experiences in the UK and in London, in particular in East London, which has established itself as one of the largest growing areas in the British capital. From the analysis of various policies and urban projects put in place over the past decades, it is intended to understand and evaluate the contribution of this mega event in the ongoing regeneration process. Finally, the wok aims to explore the London 2012 Olympic bid and identify the determining factors for the success of the event in the context of the ongoing urban regeneration process. Understanding the objectives outlined, how they were met and complied with the starting questions and how the operation on a global and local scale was set up for the event and post-event periods, is fundamental not only to evaluate the success of the operation, but also to understand how it becomes exemplary, and a reference for future events. Given the fact that a large part of the transformation will occur in the long term, which will last for many years to come, the expected and desirable impact and the event's effective contribution for the regeneration of East London, can only be speculated, based on the transformation already on going. Despite these limitations, the research work allowed to analyse an operation that marks a paradigm shift in the process of thinking and assemble the organization of a mega event. This strategy, based on the principle of sustainability and flexibility, was intended to respond to both the challenges and demands of an international competition and to leverage the ongoing regeneration process in East London. From a multidisciplinary and multilevel intervention plan, this process seeks to achieve a difficult balance between two dimensions, global and local, and two difficult goals to reconcile, competitiveness and social inclusion.