Three Games, three eviction stories. In September 2009 Planning Theory and Practice Magazine published, in its Interface section, three articles on displacement caused by three different mega-events, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The publication is attached.

.: The IOC code of ethics

Many of the world’s most powerful corporate, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations are not answerable to the people they affect according to ‘The Global Accountability Report’ (GAR), released [in Dec 2008] by one of the world’s leading global governance think tanks, the One World Trust.

At a time when serious global challenges such as the credit crunch are devastating lives, businesses and economies across the globe, all thirty organisations in the report failed to score over 80% when assessed against the think tanks accountability indicators – a level the One World Trust says indicates accountability reforms beyond the basic minimum.

greenwich park

sockpuppeteers

Matthew J. Burbank, Gregory Andranovich, Charles H. Heying,
Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001, ISBN: 978-1-55587-991-4, pb

The London Assembly commissioned research into the long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The research, produced by London East Research Institute at the University of East London, examines the lasting impact of hosting the summer Games had on Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, measuring their achievements in nine key areas including employment, urban renewal, skills and sports participation.

The Olympics project is large and complex. It is not easy to quickly grasp the nature of its probable impacts on the Lower Lea Valley and London. Here is a collection of four useful papers which together give a relatively short description of some of the significant impacts.