Tools implemented

53 Figure 8. London 2012 Governance (Source: CSL, 2012b).

54 London Green Grid (ELGG) and the Green Enterprise District. The ELGG aims to enhance the network of multifunctional open spaces as a link between urban centres, transport hubs and peri-urban areas, pursuing benefits in terms of mobility improvement, mitigation of climate change effects and preservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage (Quaglia, 2015).

Furthermore, the ELGG brings strategic coordination and promotion together with local action to deliver and manage new green spaces. Therefore, it possible to affirm that the programme has a non-statutory character but must be taken into account as a material planning consideration (London Plan, 2008). The Green Enterprise District, on the other hand, is a strategy aimed at developing a low-carbon economy in East London by investing in renewable energy, the reuse of waste for energy production and the development of alternative fuels. Drawing on large-scale investments, the District aimed to become an international hub for low-carbon business and projects: generating energy from new sources, distributing energy more efficiently and using waste as a resource (LDA, 2010).

Four themes were created as following: attracting green enterprise to East London, decarbonising enterprise and stimulating demand, positioning the District at the forefront of low carbon innovation and maximising the potential of green and open spaces and the District’s waterways.

Figure 9. Olympic Park Legacy Masterplan localised in the Lower Lea Valley (Source: Design Council).

55 At the urban scale, the Olympic plan is part of the strategic vision of the London Plan to develop a polycentric and resilient metropolis, in which the regeneration of brownfield sites, the strengthening of public transport and enhancement of blue and green infrastructure are the priorities, in line with the compact city and zero consumption of land model inspired by the national urban reform law of 2004, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (Quaglia, 2015). Three master plans were required: one governing games-time requirements; one for the immediate transformation after the games; and one for the longer-term development of the land in the 20 or so years beyond the games. The games-time schemes also had to be capable of immediate adaptation into construction design and delivery quicker than any typical market cycle. The principal tools used to guide all designers, planners, engineers, contractors, and operators were the Olympic, Paralympic and legacy-transformation master plans that obtained planning permission in September 2007. Between June 2006 and spring 2007, several further refinements were made to the Olympic, Paralympic and legacy transformation master plans, in particular, to enhance legacy benefits further, adopt more sustainable approaches and improve deliverability. The commitment to be the greenest games ever drove the approach to sustainability and resulted in the introduction of renewable energy initiatives – including photovoltaic arrays on the Media Centre building in the north of the Olympic Park and revised proposals for the Energy Centre, incorporating combined cooling, heating and power and biomass boilers at Kings Yard. The revised master plan proposals also refined the game's infrastructure, including bridges and land bridges, to provide the best solution to sustain legacy development and minimise transformation required to deliver a more efficient master plan. Two planning applications were submitted by ODA in February 2007, covering:

- site preparation for the Olympic Park site, comprising earthworks, remediation of land, works to river walls, highways and utilities;

- Olympic facilities and legacy transformation for development of Olympic and Paralympic facilities, including venues and related facilities, bridges and other infrastructure, parkland and their transformation to the postgame legacy.

They were granted planning permission in September 2007 and formed the basis for all subsequent design and implementation. The planning applications were supported by an environmental statement which set out the main environmental effects from the construction, games and transformation of the site. While establishing some definitive future building lines, green space and urban street patterns, the planning applications also created a very flexible

56 framework for architectural expression by not seeking to define or overly constrain the form of any buildings at this early stage (ICE, 2011).

Figure 10. Master plans for games-time in 2012 (a), transformation in May 2013 (b) and legacy framework under development by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (c) (Source: ICE, 2011).

Figure 10 reveals the master plans for games-times and legacy transformation in 2013. The master plans were developed not just as planning documents but as delivery tools for use by succeeding designers, contractors and operators. To perform this function, they needed to give all users a precise direction on the parameters and objectives for the project while also creating the opportunity for designers

and engineers to express the creativity required to match the architectural expectations raised by the bid imagery, within the timescale and budget pressures.

ODA, therefore, published a design strategy and a sustainable development strategy in 2007. These helped to codify the core sustainability principles included in the master plans into a suite of high-level objectives and outputs designed to maximise long-term benefits of investment in the Olympic Park. At their heart was the main objective of ensuring that the achievement of a positive long-term legacy of the games was attained. By prioritising this objective, ODA ensured that all future design decisions were always examined and tested for their contribution to this aim. The key outcomes from the approach included the following:

- Designing the reclamation programme and site-specific remediation strategies around the long-term legacy use of the Olympic Park and not just games-time requirements.

57 - Building temporary structures and infrastructure that could be relocated to areas of need across the UK or which could be recycled where there was no clear long-term local need for a facility and/or no appropriate existing venue that could be used.

- Developing an Olympic Village which could be readily converted into new housing including affordable housing as part of the first stage of the transformation of the Olympic Park. Beds created for approximately 17 000 athletes will be converted to over 2800 homes.

- Creating new ‘stitches’ in the urban fabric that connected existing neighbourhoods into the Olympic Park postgame by extending the landscape to and across new bridges at the edge of the park into existing communities.

- Renewing 3 - 5 km of waterways and creating a new 102 ha park (metropolitan open land) to contribute socioeconomic benefits, for example by lowering the risk of flood, improving air quality and soundscape and providing recreational and amenity value.

- Renovating primary service infrastructure for water, energy, sewage and waste, and burying high-voltage power lines that blighted the area.

- Upgrading, extending and investing in new public transport infrastructure that would make Stratford one of the most accessible locations in London.

- Enhancing cycling and walking routes and facilities to and around the Olympic Park, including constructing new bridges to link the park with surrounding communities.

- Providing all the elements that will allow the Olympic Park’s development to be transformed into a neighbourhood, properly integrated into the fabric of Stratford and east London.

- Grouping sports venues to create opportunities for shared use of back and front-of-house support facilities, thus minimising land take and maximising open space within the Olympic Park for visitors.

- Only building permanent venues where clear legacy needs were identified, and sporting and business plans developed for their use after the games. This thinking lay behind the plans to design: an 80 000 seat stadium that could be converted and retained as a 25 000 seater multipurpose venue; an Aquatics Centre that would house 17 500 spectators during the games but has a legacy capacity for 3500 spectators; a world-class Velo Park with a velodrome at its centre; a multi-purpose indoor sports centre and a Hockey Centre all capable of holding international events (ICE, 2011).

The existing plans for the Lower Lea Valley have eased the task of London to use the event to boost and extend the regeneration process that were already underway in East London

58 and also, the integration of the Olympic plan with the ordinary planning system show a strong will to extend the Games’ effects in the long-term through a legacy-oriented approach (Smith, 2013). On the other hand, the redevelopment of the Stratford neighbourhood, around which the entire Olympic project revolved, has returned to London an important part of the city in a widely renewed but perhaps too private version, in the social sense of those who live there today, and privatized with the strong imprint of the construction and real estate companies committed to attracting wealthier than average segments of the population (Basso, 2017).