The challenge of urban design in securing post-event legacies of Olympic Parks

Olympic Parks demand a very distinctive built environment in order to function for their primary purpose, namely to host major sporting competitions. These spaces, however, require substantial reconfiguration in the post-event mode to ensure viable, mixed use and liveable places. This paper evaluates the challenges of transforming Olympic Parks, using evidence from four past hosts: Munich (1972), Sydney (2000), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016). The discussion raises questions about retaining the ceremonial focus of the Olympic Park and whether a more decentralised model might make the associated urban design and planning legacies more deliverable for future host cities.