Located in Stratford, in the east edge of greater London, the 2.5sqkm Olympic park is comparable to the famous Hyde Park. Looking clockwise from inside the park, you have the London Bowl, the Olympic Basketball arena, the Handball Area (Copper Box), the field hockey complex, the Velopark, BMX Track, and fencing complex, aquatics centre, water polo and field hockey fields and other venues. The media center and the Olympic Village are located in the east and west sides of the park, respectively. Unlike the Beijing Olympic Village, these complexes are more concentrated and densely situated, so that just about every venue is within line of sight of the other. This is one of England?s most famous wetlands parks, and has a pleasant environment, convenient transportation and an the east-west bridge that spans Stratford and connects the Olympic grounds with the town.
In the past, this area of greater London, known for being a heavily polluted industrial zone, was given the unfortunate moniker of ?the city?s scar?. For a long time it was comprised of dilapidated low-rise residential buildings and abandoned factories. When the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) first began exploring the area, they found that most of the soil had already been heavily polluted by oil and metals; the water was dirty and polluted as well. In this light, the 2012 Olympics might just be the lifeline needed to revitalize this long downtrodden part of greater London. Over the last four years 11 industrial buildings have been destroyed and 16 tons of dirt have been moved; scores of new structures have been erected, 2000 indigenous trees planted along with other 300,000 wetland plants, and over 30 new bridges and 10 railway lines connecting the park to the rest of London have been constructed.
Adjacent to the park is the ?1.45bn Westfield Stratford City Shopping centre, from which you can see the London Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre as well as the VeloPark. There are botanical gardens to the south, and restaurants, markets, and bars by the river; and to the north, an ecological preserve where you can find aloe, grasslands, forests and small lakes, providing an ideal habitat for species such as kingfisher birds and sea otters.
After the Olympics, the park will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Legacy Park, and will continue serving as a sports, recreation, and entertainment centre, completing its metamorphosis from London?s scar to a new heart of the garden city. This renaissance of London?s long blighted and maligned east end might just be the most lasting legacy of 2012 Olympics.
About Brenda Wang
Brenda graduated from Fudan University. She served as a reporter of ? economic & people's livelihood ? in business daily and a feature editor of ?In City? and ?City Briefing? in urban -type magazine . Now She features for a design column ?Living Room?. Brenda is familiar with the entire process of traditional magazine. She loves both traditional media and digital media. Her most favorite thing is researching various types of magzines and appzines during spare time. More Brenda?s information, please see www.brandbrenda.comSource: http://www.vantageshanghai.com/articles/olympic-park-from-londons-scar-to-europes-new-garden-city/
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