London’s Olympic Park What’s the story, 8 years on?

Figure 1 Location of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Summer 2020 marks 8 years since London hosted the Olympic Games. With eyes on Tokyo for the delayed 2020 Games, which is now planned for 2021, London 2012 may seem like a lifetime ago, yet many aspects of the promised legacy and regeneration programme still continue. The Olympic Park and the surrounding area in Stratford in London’s East End (see Figure 1, back page) demonstrate urban regeneration. How successful has it been?

This is the parkland created by the regeneration of this area of Stratford in London (see Figure 2, back page) following the 2012 Olympic Games the main Olympic stadium, velodrome and aquatic centre were all sited here, but following the Games it has become the largest new urban park in the UK for over 100 years, and covers an area equivalent to about 300 football pitches.