Realising Olympic potential

Sydney 2000 set a new benchmark for the Olympics. The urban design manager for Sydney’s Homebush Bay Olympic site speaks frankly about the project and what lessons can be learned

By Nigel Dickson

As Beijing approaches the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games it is worth reflecting and cross checking on lessons from the Sydney 2000 Olympics. The Sydney Olympics was acclaimed at its famous closing ceremony as the best ever Olympic Games by then International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch. After Athens 2004, the mantle has now been passed on to Beijing, China for 2008. So what lessons can Beijing learn from Sydney to ensure it meets, if not exceeds, past Olympic Games?

Stadium Australia was the centrepiece of Sydney’s
Homebush Bay Olympic site

The general approach Beijing is using for grouping the Olympic venues and creating the Village Green is quite similar to Sydney. Both Sydney and Beijing share the central idea of a major urban park as a principal legacy for the Games in a fast growing city, but they have much more in common.

Sydney learnt in 2000 that a successful Olympics must create a spectacle that engages the world. The event must be designed to cultivate a great sense of enjoyment directed towards the participants, those in the host city, and those watching and listening around the world. It is necessary to focus on providing a programme of sporting events that runs smoothly and seamlessly. Beijing needs to reinvent the charisma and spectacle in a unique way that can build on China’s history and bring the world together in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

One way to engage the public is to allow them to participate and become an integral part of the Olympics. One of Sydney’s greatest successes was the great volunteer programme that brought people together from a variety of backgrounds and skill-bases to assist with every aspect of the games. What made this programme successful was the infectious positive spirit that each of the volunteers carried with them during the games and passed on to each and every person with whom they came in contact. Sydney 2000 had nearly 10,000 volunteers who presented a consistently exuberant, happy and positive face to the Olympics and the billions of people around the world. They reflected all of the best things about Australia and the Olympic spirit.

A successful Games needs to ensure that its volunteer programme is built upon similar principles and enthusiasm. In addition, it needs to attract a wide range of professional and quality volunteers who have the capability to manage complex situations. In particular, the volunteers need to have some language skills, interpersonal skills and a relaxed nature to make visitors feel welcome and meet their needs. Host cities must also create training programmes that can provide these skills. After the Games are over, the skills these people have and the role they played in representing the nation will be one of the most important legacies.

It is critical that the “Olympic experience” spreads beyond the Olympic sites to the entire city and the country as a whole. The host city, as well as other major cities, will need to co-ordinate a range of events that celebrate the Olympics and extend the experience across the country.

Venues were designed to be adaptable for future
non-Olympic uses

Sydney was successful in providing a programme of “live sites” with large television screens at key locations across the city to enable those who could not attend the games to experience the Olympic spectacle. Sydney used decorative lighting, banners, special building lighting and associated events to build up the excitement at each of the live sites and promote use of the city’s public spaces and entertainment areas. The live sites were usually associated with supporting facilities such as food outlets with a range of international cuisines, good links to transport and toilet facilities to make the experience more manageable and pleasant, especially for families.

These live sites attracted huge crowds of passers-by and the entire city became engaged in every Olympic moment. As a result, the world was presented with an image of Sydney (and Australia) through the media that showed a lively and vibrant city with active public spaces, enthusiastic people, great entertainment, set to a beautiful backdrop of the harbour and city.

Sydney also provided a range of entertainment options to cater for all of the visiting dignitaries, international athletes and visitors. These venues provided the opportunity for people across the world to meet in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere and to enjoy the city as well as the Olympic Games. Interestingly, it was at one of these entertainment venues during the Olympics that the Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark met an Australian woman by the name of Mary Donaldson who has since become his wife. This chance meeting has turned out to be one of the great international success stories of the Sydney Olympics.

Olympic operational planning and logistics is one of the critical aspects of a successful Olympic Games. It needs to be well co-ordinated so that all things occur seamlessly and smoothly. In addition, operational planners will need to deal with unprecedented security requirements in the wake of 11 September and the war on terrorism. City-based Olympics are inevitably located adjacent to dense residential areas and the operational planning will need to ensure those adjoining areas and the remainder of the city is able to function as smoothly as possible throughout the event.

The world was presented with a positive image of Sydney,
set to the backdrop of the harbour and city

Managing entry/exit and security checkpoints in a thorough but efficient manner is essential. Logistics vehicles will need to be able to quickly and securely enter and leave the Olympic site at agreed times. Crowds will need to be able to approach the Olympic Village Green safely and enjoyably. Spectators will seek to arrive early and stay on to enjoy the Olympic experience. Sponsors will seek to maximise their return on their investment and ensure their guest have a great time.

The Sydney team worked very hard on operation planning, particularly following disappointing experiences at the Atlanta Games. All operational questions were studied in detail from the ground up. The key platform was centred on understanding Olympic transport operations, followed by security and accreditation and the myriad of functional planning reviews. Sydney developed organisational systems that linked with cost planning and formed a key approach to sound operational planning and budget reviews.

The broadcasters and members of the press are the eyes and ears of the Games and it is their interpretation of the event that is seen by the world. It is critical that they are able to conduct their intensive work well and unhindered, or it can be expected that bad sentiments and a poor media image will result.

Following the Atlanta games, Sydney went back to first principles to examine and check all of the operational planning issues for ensuring that broadcasters and the press were ensured safe, secure and efficient access to all aspects of the games. It is natural for organisers to focus on ensuring that the key sporting venues are being built to schedule. However, a key lesson from Sydney is to ensure that the city also provides excellent venues for the media and provides a level of respect for the impact they have on how the Olympics are perceived by the world.

The Olympics will focus naturally on sporting venues but it must be realised that for all of the investment, the Olympics will be staged over a couple of months, whereas the Olympic site and its buildings will remain as a legacy for a long time after the games are over.

Like Sydney, organisers should recognise that there is an opportunity to foster housing and commercial development of sites around the Games area both during and after the Olympics. Even today, Sydney is still working hard to capture real estate benefits for new development at Homebush Bay. Host Cities must ensure that new developments are built at a time to not interfere with Olympic planning, but are also planned so as to maximise returns to government and investors following the Games.

It is important that buildings and venues are designed to be adaptable for future non-Olympic uses and can integrate into the city as part of a new urban area after the games are over. For example, buildings such as the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre, which are to be located in the new Convention Centre, require huge investments in the latest technology and communications equipment to meet Olympic needs. However, with a bit of forward planning this investment, technology and equipment is well placed to provide an excellent future facility for the host country’s television, performance and entertainment industry.

It requires a lot of strategic planning and lateral thinking to create both site and building designs that are adaptable and responsive to changing uses – but the potential benefits are huge. The cost of adapting the site after the Olympics is significant if these issues are not addressed in the planning stages.

In the run up to an Olympics there are numerous decisions that will need to be made. These decisions will vary from macro policy issues concerning security and transportation to minute, micro issues on procurement of equipment, signage and painting.

It is imperative that organisers create a management system and framework that allows managers to make decisions appropriate to their responsibility. If the decision-making process is too bureaucratic then there will be an inefficient decision-making process and poor responsibility for outcomes.

It will be equally critical that the organisers seek to create a decision-making framework that relies heavily on teamwork and extensive communication between different management units so that the teams work productively and smoothly. This is in part a lesson from the Sydney Olympics but is also a lesson learnt from the Sydney experience and other major projects.

About the author: Nigel Dickson is managing director of Dickson Rothschild Pty Ltd, based in Sydney, Australia, with offices in Beijing and Tianjin, China.

He is a trained architect, urban designer and planner and from 1993-1995 he was the urban design manager for the Homebush Olympic site. He authored the master plan synopsis for the Olympic Co-ordination Authority and managed the Urban Design Panel and preparation of the Urban Design Plan