Play The Game

 

The Lower Lea Valley was one of the most neglected parts of London up until the end of the 20th century. Then it was by a strange, mercurial process chosen as the site for the 2012 Olympic bid. This book helps capture why the London Olympics won and how the East End was given a huge new park and masses of new infrastructure. This compelling, multilayered book captures the drama of how these events were managed, in the words of those involved in its planning. Formed from the interviews by two experts in London’s urban development field, Ralph Ward and Michael Owens, it describes in detail how London won the Olympic Bid under Mayor Ken Livingstone and how Queen Elizabeth Park, containing the velodrome and London Stadium was delivered under Mayor Boris Johnson. The story of how and why the London 2012 Olympics came to be cannot be truly understood without this book, available in print and digital formats. 

Amongst many others the book contains interviews with the following: 

Gareth Blacker, Director of Strategic Development and Infrastructure at the Homes and Communities Agency; Mark Bostock, who successfully led the construction of HS1 from St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel; Paul Brickell, Executive Director for Regeneration and Community Partnerships for the London Legacy Development Corporation; Richard Brown, former  Director of Strategy for London Legacy Development Corporation; Elenaor Fawcett, now Head of Design at the Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation; Sandra Hunt, former Regeneration Adviser to the Chief Executive at Newham Council; Michael Keith, co-director of the Oxford programme for the Future of Cities; Jason Prior, former Chief of Buildings and Places at AECOM; Eleanor Young, leader of the team that drafted the Mayor’s first London Plan.

Authors
Michael Owens, Ralph Ward
Design
M. Granja
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