Young people and place shaping

So much has been said about the legacy of the Olympic Games, but not often enough by the people supposed to benefit. After a very interesting presentation by the Stratford Renaissance Partnership, Nick Edwards of Fundamental Architectural Inclusion ran a very interesting tour. It was not so much what he showed us, but what he told us of the young people who he's helping getting involved in place shaping, notably running a Legacy Youth Panel for the LLDC. The aim is not only to help them influence the masterplans, but also (given how few of these plans see light of day) to keep feeding into the development process. Unfortunately, there is not much money for this kind of activity, however inspirational.

I was chatting to Nick about the possibility of some of the youngsters he has engaged give tours of their own neighbourhoods. I bought my apartment in Paris' 20th district after going on such a tour of what was then an overlooked working class area of Paris (whose popularity has risen since I wrote this:!!!) The tours of alternative quartiers of Paris are quite popular and I think there could be a real demand for them post Olympics (Old and New Stratford, Hackney Wick).

iCity

Party tonight at Hackney House to celebrate the selection of iCity as the preferred bidder for the Olympic Park's media and broadcast centre, "two of the most digitally connected buildings in the world."

"iCITY’s vision is to provide a sustainable legacy for the local community through the creation of thousands of jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities."

The Tale of Tech City report I co-authored recommended the decoupling of the Olympic Park from the government's strategy to boost the Old Street digital cluster. That doesn't mean we rule out a digital future for the Olympic Park. Only that we suggest the government should let the iCity team and the Old Street cluster evolve on their own steam without being forced into marriage. They might flirt of their own accord, or iCity might decide to hook up with a different partner - possibly the thriving artistic community in nearby Hackney Wick.

Rebranding and Reinspiring Britain: The Olympic Games

 Two years of research, countless site visits and conferences: still nothing prepares you for the sheer thrill of stepping onto the Olympic Park when the Games are in full swing. It is blinkin' marvellous. I even came to develop an affection for The Orbit, whose external ugliness I have been blaming on Boris' indifference. Yet the view from the top is really special and I predict we will grow to love it. Maybe not to the same extent as Paris has done with the once-hated Eiffel Tower, but I can really see it breathing life into the plaza below. 

The second thing I keep thinking about following my visit on Day 3 of the Games is the little mentioned wild flowers. Not only do they show Mitt Romney that we were very ready (no new build has time to develop such sophisticated landscaping: our buildings were ready a year ago), but they also signify the under-stated elegance of the British Games - and are for me more impressive in their own way than the Bird's Nest stadium (which admittedly I have only seen in pictures).

Having been meh about the actual Games (I'm not an athletics fan, or at least I wasn't), I'm now well and trully sold on the Olympics themselves, as well as the regeneration project. None of the reams of academic literature I have read on mega-projects prepared me for this. Even if I didn't initially understand all of Danny Boyle's opening ceremony, which I watched from a hotel room in France, I keep thinking about it. What a fabulous rebranding exercise: changing foreigners perceptions of Britain from a fuddy duddy, stiff-upper lip, U.S. lapdog to a funky modern, creative, musical and quirky place where despite all our talk of inequility and priviledge, we can still talk our octegenarian queen to jump out of helicopters (not many foreign heads of state would even consider such a proposal). No marketing campaign, whatever the budget, could achieve this. 

The Olympics are also supposed to inspire young people to take up sports. I'm not sure about this, even if I am looking forward to a swim in the Olympic pool (in two years time when it opens to the public). But the Games have done a real service to women's sports, not least in the fact that even the most conservative of nations this year sent a women's team. Our ladies football team has also been winning hearts, and not only because they are perhaps UK football's only chance of beating Brazil. I predict we'll want to keep watching these women. As for me, I went to see Canadian ladies take on Team GB at Basketball, and even if I wasn't bothered in the slightest about the sport beforehand, I'm now keeping tabs on the teams. 

The Olympics also seems to be rallying our spirits. The torch seemed to cause a wee stir wherever it went (even if I missed it when it came to my turf in Brixton) and the young volunteers I saw at the park seemed genuinely exited to be there. I'm not sure how far the exitement extends from London, but if even a little of it seeps out, I reckon the Olympics might just help re-inspire us to have faith in ourselves. And there couldn't be a better time for it.   

Sir Peter Hall

The TCPA tonight honoured the great contribution to British planning by Sir Peter Hall, whose 80th birthday has also been celebrated this week by UCL where he is an ever-present influence. David Lock led the tributes, which hailed SPH's vision of places designed for people and their complex lives, when too many were thinking of cars. The very pleasant evening ended with a rendition of Love, Life and Liberty, a poetic and musical reminder of what planning is all about: land.

Place East London

Just ahead of the launch of our Tech City report, I was asked to speak at the Place East London conference on what the cluster could mean for East London jobs. I said our in-depth analysis shows the much-hyped cluster is larger than anyone had previously thought, but the entrepreneurs within it are less diverse than London SMEs or British digital economy firms. To open access to a wide group requires rethinking the entrepreneurship culture, making financing easier for people without contacts to rich people, encouraging skills training and networking in local populations, and a more female-friendly environment (a theme from my undergraduate anthropology degree).

I came after Sir Robin Wales who spoke about Newham's great efforts - and success - about getting local people into jobs with some of the new employers (not least Westfield) coming to town. GLA Chief of Staff Sir Edward Lister told how the £9-24 billion cost of the Olympic Games will be the "least expensive of the projects" planned to upgrade infrastructure in East London.Newly annointed London Legacy Development Corporation Chief Daniel Moylan closed the event vowing that the park would not become a "shard of prosperity" - like Canary Wharf.

How the Olympics can help... Lille?

In the Paris metro, I was handed a promotional leaflet "on the road to the Olympic Games".... for Lille. Interesting that the Northern French city is hoping to attract some of the tourists flocking to London. The 10 reasons is offers are standard enough: it's not far from London (80 minutes), the food is good, it's a change of scene, culture, shopping etc etc.  

Digital Shoreditch

Kam Star's Digital Shoreditch is a boutique conference for East London's digital geeks. Fed by the hype and energy of the government's Tech City initiative, the much talked about event is growing - and likely to gain in strength. The acoustics of Hackney House weren't brilliant, but the crowd was attentive and committed and the speakers (including Centre for London's Rob Whitehead talking about our Tech City research project) were top class!