New Policy Briefing 14: London's Olympic Games and improving conditions for walking

New Policy Briefing 14: London's Olympic Games and improving conditions for walking PDF (113Kb)

Living Streets has launched a new policy briefing on London's Olympic Games plans - calling for the London Games to be the first-ever 'Active Travel' Games, with visitors, athletes and organisers encouraged to walk or cycle to and within the Olympic sites wherever possible. It urges London not to repeat the mistakes of the Athens Olympics, where much of the new infrastructure focused on car use - even including concreting over the Athens river to create a new urban motorway! (see photo below).

The main river in Athens - now covered over with an urban motorway, as part of the Olympic infrastructure 'improvements'

The Policy Briefing can be downloaded as a pdf at the bottom of this page, or the text appears below:

London's Olympic Games 2012

The 2012 Games will provide an opportunity to regenerate large areas of run-down London in the Lower Lea Valley, as well as showcasing Britain as a whole. The original bid won because it stressed the importance of regeneration, sustainability, and good public transport.

However, previous Games have shown that good intentions sometimes go wrong. People-friendly public space, which will also be successful after the Games have gone, needs a commitment from start to finish. In the inevitable pre-games hype about state-of-the-art transport networks, attention to the needs of pedestrians, and the creation of successful and long-lasting public spaces, could be forgotten.

Our policy

Living Streets welcomes the successful bid, and calls for walking to be prioritised, both as a mode of transport and as a vital element of sustainable communities, in the Olympic Transport Plan. This is for 5 reasons:

1. Providing a role model for active travel
Games organisers want to improve UK exercise levels. Encouraging walking and cycling to Olympic events is in keeping with this aim. Currently less than half the population do enough exercise. The Sydney Games were hailed as the first car-free games. London should have the first Active Travel Games, where visitors, athletes, and organisers are encouraged to walk or cycle where they can.

2. Investing in a better quality of life locally
The Games bring a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity for infrastructural changes in a very deprived part of the country. Improved local walking networks must be central to that work.

A new wide staircase to public transport - but a tiny pavement at its base

3. Implementing the London Walking Plan
Ken Livingstones Walking Plan wants London to be the most walking-friendly city in the world by 2015 - just 3 years after the Games,. All Olympic work must be walking-friendly.

4. Building a sustainable future
Walking is the measure of sustainable communities - and the Games should be a showcase of sustainability. Walking and cycling should be the norm for people travelling within the Olympic Park - both during and after the Games. Walking, cycling and public transport should be the norm for people travelling across London to reach the Park, with good walkable connections at transport hubs.

5. Planning for the threat of terrorism
During the recent terrorist bombings, many Londoners reached their destinations on foot. The more walking-friendly the Games are, the lower the threat of terrorist disruption.

Living Streets say the Olympic Transport Plan should contain 7 clear walking commitments:

Commitment 1. To consult local people before plans are finalised
Local people know the importance of existing walking routes, and those features of streets they treasure or would want to lose. They should be involved in drawing up the plans.

Commitment 2. Encourage walking
The Plan should demonstrate that the needs of pedestrians will be met, and that walking will be encouraged both to and within the Olympic Park. There should be a commitment that public space will be designed first and foremost for people.

Commitment 3. Clear pedestrian routes
Unbroken pedestrian routes and the permeability of developments needs to prioritised. The large stadia will inevitably cause severance, so action needs to be taken to minimise the effects. Subways, pedestrian bridges and raised paths with railings, or paths with walls on either side, should be avoided. The new Stratford City also needs to be designed for people, with a mix of office, retail, leisure, residential and other uses so that it is lively in the evening as well as the day, and permeable - lots of easy walking routes which feel safe day and night - like medieval street patterns.

Badly planned pavement improvements for Athens Games - leads disabled people straight into a tree! Opportunities to widen the pavement weren't taken.

Commitment 4. Accessiblity
London will also be hosting the Paralympic Games. London should be accessible to everyone, regardless of disability. Roads, streets, pavements, transport facilities etc. all need to be designed for use by disabled people. If they meet the needs of people with disabilities, they will meet everyone's needs. London should set a target for ensuring that all key pedestrian routes through the city are wheelchair accessible in time for the Paralympic Games.

Commitment 5. High quality furniture
Signs and maps for pedestrians, good lighting, and high quality, clutter-free street furniture - benches, seating, trees and green space should be part of the plan.

Commitment 6. Slower traffic speeds
20mph should be made the default speed limit in built-up London. This would do most to reduce casualties, make urban streets vibrant and bring a modal shift from driving to walking, cycling and public transport use.

Commitment 7. Better walking friendlypublic transport infrastructure designs
All new public transport infrastructure should ensure that the needs of passengers as pedestrians, at the start, middle and end of their journey, are taken into account. There have been recent examples of new public transport hubs (such as Vauxhall Cross in London) where pedestrians' needs were not properly considered.

Fact Stats - other Olympics
1. A former Beijing construction minister has warned that its transport infrastructure is being built solely for the Olympics - leading to obsolete systems afterwards - with little attention being paid to the detail of schemes and the needs of pedestrians.

2. The infrastructure for the Athens Games included many new roads and car parks! Athens main river was covered over to form an urban motorway, and 40 flyovers were constructed. Trams were built on green space not road space. Metro station entrances blocked pavements.

3. The Sydney Olympics was one of the most successful for pedestrians. In 1993, Sydney committed to host a car-free Games. The number of car parking places was dramatically cut, and there were totalcar-free zones. A network of cycle paths was created to and around the site (but there were only 130 cycle parking spaces).

4. The Barcelona Games were the catalyst to regenerate an entire city. Hundreds of new public spaces were created. 5km of derelict port separating the city from the sea was reclaimed as a beach.