The Impact of Planning Policies for the Olympic Games - Essay Example

THE IMPACT OF PLANNING POLICIES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES WILL OPTIMIZE THE SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM FOR LONDON RESIDENTS Tourism as a manifestation of leisure presupposes a socioeconomic milieu in which money and time-away-from-work can be accumulated to be spent at will. Tourism as a form of mobility implies that culturally sanctioned reasons exist for leaving home to travel. Tourism as an organized industry, catering to a clientele who have time and money and want to spend them, pleasurably, in leisured mobility or migration. Tourism in the modal sense is one of a range of choices, or styles, of vacation or recreation. Tourist visits are ritualized breaks in routine that define and relieve the ordinary. A very interesting facet of tourism is the socio-cultural impacts. The socio-cultural impacts of tourism cover the corresponding effects on host communities of direct and indirect relations with tourists, and of interaction with the tourism industry. Host communities are the weaker party in interactions with their guests and service providers. These influences depend on value judgments and are often indirect or hard to identify. This paper will discuss the specific socio-cultural impacts of tourism which are closely related to the London 2012 Olympic Games. POSITIVE SOCIO-CULTURAL EFFECTS OF THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES The first positive socio-cultural impact is that tourism is a force for peace. The tourists who will travel to London for the Olympic Games will be won over by the residents of London. The close interaction with people from different countries will develop mutual sympathy and understanding and reduce their racial prejudices. This close interaction and cooperation will lead to world understanding and world peace. The second positive socio-cultural impact is that the London Games of 2012 will strengthen local communities. The local residents will be involved as volunteers and the celebration of festivals will lead to cultural rejuvenation. The tourist interest for festivals will enrich the cultural exchange between the participants. Moreover, the thousands of jobs created by tourism can act as a vital incentive to reduce emigration from rural areas. The third positive socio-cultural impact is that the facilities developed for the tourism-related Olympic Games benefit local residents during and after the Games. These benefits include upgraded infrastructure, health and transport improvements, new sport and recreational facilities, restaurants, and public spaces. For example, the Stratford Regional Station will be developed and expanded. During the Games, eight rail lines will service the station, making it a major public transport interchange.During the Games around 60 per cent of all spectators travelling by rail and around 45 per cent of all spectators visiting the Games will arrive and depart through this station. Approximately £100m worth of improvements to the station will be done to treble its capacity and make it more accessible. These enhancements will allow thousands of spectators to pass through the station each morning during the Games and help the station cater for increased passenger demand in the future. In addition, a new Olympic Park will be constructed to connect to the tidal Thames Estuary to the south and the Hertfordshire countryside to the north. The Olympic Park will be designed to enrich the local ecology, restoring wetland habitats and planted with native species. The canals and waterways of the River Lea will be cleaned and widened, and the natural floodplains of the area will be restored to provide a new wetland habitat for wildlife for birdwatchers and ecologists to enjoy. The natural river system of the valley will be restored, canals dredged and waterways widened. The park will be planted with native species, including oak, ash, willow, birch, hazel, holly, blackthorn and hawthorn, providing a home for wildlife in the middle of the city. The world-class sports facilities will be adapted for use by sports clubs and the local community as well as elite athletes. New playing fields sitting alongside these facilities will be adapted for community use. The Olympic Village, where athletes and officials will stay during the Games, will be converted into homes, many available for key workers such as teachers and nurses. Furthermore, a new Aquatics Centre will be constructed to serve as the gateway to the Park during the Games. It will include two 50m pools and a Diving pool. The Aquatics Centre will host a range of events including Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Diving, Water Polo finals and Modern Pentathlon. The capacity will be 17,500 seats for the main competition pool and Diving and 5,000 seats for the Water Polo venue. The Aquatics Centre will also incorporate a crèche, family-friendly changing facilities and café amenities alongside a new public plaza directly in front of the building. The Aquatics Centre will be adapted to 2,500 seats with capacity to be increased to 3,500 for major competitions. The pools will be a new facility for club, school and community swimming located in nearby communities. (London 2012 website). The fourth positive socio-cultural impact is that tourism can boost the preservation and transmission of cultural and historical traditions, which often contributes to the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of local heritage, and a renaissance of indigenous cultures, cultural arts and crafts. The London 2012 Olympic Committee will host cultural activities, musical programs and educational events which will feature British performers and artists in order to combine with the sport events for an unforgettable experience and lasting change. The fifth positive socio-cultural impact is that tourism encourages civic involvement and pride. About 70,000 British volunteers are needed to make sure the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games run smoothly and successfully.Volunteers will carry out a range of essential tasks, from spectator services to language services and medical care. The sixth positive socio-cultural impact is that tourism raises the local awareness of the value of natural and cultural sites which can foster local pride in local and national heritage and interest in its conservation. London put sustainability at the heart of its bid for the 2012 Games, framed by the concept of ‘Towards a One Planet Olympics’. This was derived from the WWF/BioRegional concept of ‘One Planet Living®’ , which shows the challenges facing us in stark terms: if everybody in the world lived the same lifestyle as we do in the UK, we would need three planets’ worth of resources to support. London 2012 and the London 2012 Stakeholders share a commitment to maximise sustainability through the phases of the Games such as the building the venues and infrastructure, staging the Games themselves and after the Games. The Olympic Game Committee had focussed on five key areas: combating climate change; reducing waste; enhancing biodiversity; promoting inclusion; and improving healthy living. The seventh positive socio-cultural impact is the concept of sustainability of all facilities after the Olympic Games. The impact of the building on the environment is being reduced by the use of renewable energy, sustainably sourced building materials and the reuse of pool water to flush the toilets. The official Energy Partner for London 2012 has launched a major advertising campaign promoting its aim to reduce its carbon intensity by 60 per cent by 2020. The main message of the campaign is that people can become a part of the solution. The soundtrack It’s not easy being green helps to communicate the message throughout the UK that it may be difficult, but we must change our ways in order to prevent climate change. Conversely, there are negative socio-cultural impacts to the London 2012 Olympic Games. The first negative socio-cultural impact of the London Games is the change of indigenous identity and values. The Olympic Games may influence local cultures and turn them into commodities whenever the religious rituals, traditional ethnic rites and festivals are reduced and sanitized to conform to tourist expectations. Once a destination is sold as a tourism product, and the tourism demand for souvenirs, arts, entertainment begins to exert influence, basic changes in human values may occur. Sacred sites and objects may not be respected when they are perceived as goods to trade. The second negative impact is destinations. Destinations risk standardization in the process of satisfying tourists desires for familiar facilities. Tourists look for well-known fast-food restaurants and hotel chains when they travel to a new place. The third negative impact is the loss of authenticity and staged authenticity. Adapting cultural expressions and manifestations to the tastes of tourists or even performing shows as if they were "real life" constitutes "staged authenticity". As long as tourists just want a glimpse of the local atmosphere, a quick glance at local life staging will be inevitable. Local business festivals can be staged even if the festivals have been celebrated outside of the timetable for the Olympic Games. The fourth negative socio-cultural impact is the continuous adaptation to tourist demands Tourists want souvenirs, arts, crafts, and cultural manifestations. The local craftsmen have responded to the growing demand, and have made changes in design of their products to bring them more in line with the new customers tastes. While the input done by tourists also contributes to the sense of self-worth of the artists, and helps conserve a cultural tradition, cultural erosion may result due to the commodification of these cultural goods. The fifth negative socio-cultural impact is the development of anti-tourism attitudes among the local residents. The attitude of local residents towards tourism development may develop over several stages. It starts from euphoria, where visitors are very welcome, then move to apathy, irritation and possibly to antagonism, when anti-tourist attitudes begin growing among local people. The sixth negative socio-cultural impact is cultural clashes due to economic inequality. Tourists come from affluent societies with varied consumption patterns and lifestyles. The tourist lifestyle is often higher compare to the tourist destination. This particular socio-economic impact cannot be applied to London since the city of London is a highly developed city. The seventh socio-cultural impact is that the Olympic Games can also lead to an increased incidence of crime in the city of London. The presence of a large number of tourists with a lot of money to spend heightens the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities like robbery and drug dealing. This negative impact will be mitigated with the presence of the Scotland Yard and the British Police who are tasked to provide security for the Games. Conclusion There are seven positive socio-cultural impacts of the London 2012 Olympic Games. These positive impacts serve to enhance the richness and diversity of the Olympic sports experience. There are also negative socio-cultural impacts of the Olympic Games. However, the Olympic Organizing Committee has in place specific strategies to minimize the negative socio-cultural impacts. The London 2012 Olympic Games is a wide-ranging activity that should never be divorced from a serious and concerned consideration of environment and society. In fact, the development system consists, at a minimum, of a mixed system of elements and linkages derived from the economy, environment, and society. Recommendations The main recommendation of this study is that the future sites for the Olympic Games must follow the London Olympic Games model. The London 2012 Olympic Games has made sustainability, extreme environmental care and development compatible with heavy infrastructure development for the Games. Sustainable development was built into the formulation of the strategy for the Olympic Games. Another recommendation is that future studies on Olympic Games hosting can also derive insights from the closely intertwined government and private sector relations that went into the preparations for the London bid for the Olympic Games. The third recommendation is that future studies can also gain perspectives from the London 2012 Committee on its efforts to mitigate the negative socio-cultural impacts that may arise during the Olympic Games. Works Cited DCMS (2004) Tomorrow’s Tourism Today. Elliott J (1997)Tourism. London:Routledge. Hall CM & Page S (2006) 3rd Ed The Geography of Tourism and Recreation. London: Routledge Jeffries D (2001) Governments and Tourism Reed International Pearce, D. & Butler R (1999) Contemporary Issues in Tourism Development Routledge Pender L and Sharpley R (eds) (2005) The Management of Tourism Sage Chapter 15 Veal AJ (2002) 2nd Ed, Leisure and Tourism Policy and Planning CABI WTO (1994) National and Regional Tourism Planning – Methodologies and Case Studies Routledge Website UNEP Tourism. Available at UR: http://www.unep.fr/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/social.htm. London 2012 Olympic Games website. Available at URL: http://www.london2012.com/plans/olympic-park/legacy/index.php Read More