| 2012 Olympics: from the people's games to the Tory games? This morning's presentation of the 2012 Olympic Park legacy plans confirmed a great deal of what was already known wrapped up in a light tissue of heritage humbug. The landscaped East London territory itself, with its sports stadiums and quintet of newbuild neighbourhoods, is to be called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This naming, we were told, was of a piece with the latest park masterplan's guiding concept, which is to model it upon the great private estates that still define much of the capital's social character, with their mix of grand homes for the affluent and only in some cases benevolence towards residents of more modest means. Boris Johnson spoke of emulating "the most attractive features of the Georgian age." This thoroughly Tory reading of London's past should come as no surprise, given that they are now so much in charge. And while the verbal branding will please royalists and harrumphing anti-modernist aesthetes, it's too early to conclude from a single press conference that the promise that the games will drive the regeneration of East London is being watered down. Yet I find my dogged Olympics optimism more and more besieged by doubts. Is that terrible decision to re-route the marathon a sign of things to come? London's successful bid to host the 2012 games owed more than a little to promises that the sporting bonanza would be the driver for the rejuvenation of the East End, providing the new jobs and homes that so many locals need. It's been confirmed that more family homes with gardens will be built than had previously been planned, and given London's chronic problems with overcrowding it's hard not to applaud. But how many of those homes will end up occupied by East End families in long-term need and how many by those with enough money to buy them? The Company says it is responding to "market, community and public demand" and that families will be the bedrock of fine urban districts containing schools, public spaces and businesses connected up with transport links. If these new East End neighbourhoods are to work for the East End, that blend of ingredients, including the human beings, has to be just right. How interested will developers be in building homes that truly are "affordable?" How many will be for social rent? How determined are Conservative politicians to ensure that this new "great estate" helps enough of those who most need it? Boris confirmed this morning that the Legacy Company "is shortly to become the Mayoral Development Corporation" as part of a package of new powers to be devolved to City Hall. His housing policy as mayor has redefined the definition of affordability to offer a hand up to people earning more than £70,000 a year. Meanwhile critics of his proposed new London Plan - the capital's key strategic planning document - say that its house building targets are too low and will give boroughs too much freedom to drag their feet. This morning I put it to Boris and Department of Work and Pensions minister Bob Neill that the government's controversial housing benefit plans - which London Councils now believes could result in over 80,000 London households having to move - showed it hasn't the first idea about Legacy Company chief executive Andrew Altman called "London's DNA", which has historically determined that even the richest parts of town have never wholly excluded the less well off. The Mayor assured me that the government understood London's special circumstances, and expressed confidence that "serious measures" were forthcoming to address the situation. "We think that there are more measures that we could introduce to mitigate the impact on people who absolutely have to live in certain neighbourhoods because their kids are in school or because they need to work nearby, and that is also something that is being readily understood by government," he said. That's very interesting news, especially the part referring to schools and jobs. Whether it bodes well for the future of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, time will tell.LondonLondon politicsRegenerationOlympic games 2012Dave Hillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Arnie visits London and hails 'true action heroes' Hollywood star turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger tells British soldiers they are the "true action heroes" during a visit to London. bbc.co.uk |
Cuts in Britain Ignore Views of Keynes In the land of his birth, John Maynard Keynes’s view that deficit spending is crucial to avoiding a long recession has lately been willfully ignored. nytimes.com |
Tough angel Singer Charlotte Church on her new album, tabloid gossip and Gavin Henson bbc.co.uk |
Duchess of Cornwall 'mauled' by kitten A playful kitten left the Duchess of Cornwall looking like a scratching post today when the royal visited the world famous Battersea Dogs and Cats home to open a new facility. telegraph.co.uk |