Building to thrill

Host Cityspeaks to the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee about how it plans to realise its construction ambitions for 2010 and beyond

The countdown is on to the 16th Asian Games. Three years from now, the Chinese city of Guangzhou will stages what it hopes will be the best ever Asiad. Under the slogan “Thrilling Games, Harmonious Asia”, more than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions will participate in the 2010 Games in the capital of Guangdong Province. There will be 42 events, making it the largest Asian Games to date. Five events are new, including dragon boat racing, cricket, sport dance, Weiqi chess and roller skating.

The city of Guangzhou is preparing to host
an electrifying Asiad (Photo: Xi Peng)

Preparations are well under way as the city, which was awarded the Games in July 2004, undergoes a radical facelift. Billions of dollars are being spent on a slew of new and renovated venues and to overhaul the transport infrastructure, rejuvenating a city that has long lived in the shadow of Beijing and Shanghai. An estimated RMB 2bn (USD 268m) is to be allocated to the construction and refurbishment of sports venues alone.

The provincial government of Guangdong and the municipal government of Guangzhou are building 14 new venues for the Games, while more than 33 other competition venues and 28 training facilities are being revamped. Ninety per cent of Games action will take place in central Guangzhou and at the site of the Asian Games Village. But boxing is taking place in Foshan; weightlifting and men’s basketball competition group matches in Dongguan; and sailing and sailboarding in Shanwei.

Updating on progress in September 2007, Gu Shiyang, deputy secretary general of the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (GAGOC) was in upbeat mood. “With just over 1,000 days to go before the opening ceremony of the Games, we are in overdrive preparing for the event,” he said.

Recruiting foreign expertise
GAGOC says it has contracted many foreign companies to work on design and construction projects for the Games. With only three years to go to the opening ceremony, there is still much work to be done and a number of contracts are still up for grabs. GAGOC is seeking to recruit other international expertise, including Western companies, in the build-up to the event.

“In compliance with international practice, many foreign companies have participated in the construction of sports venues in Guangzhou,” a high-ranking venues official from GACOG the venues official tells Host City. “We expect to communicate and cooperate with more foreign companies in various projects in the future.”

One of the newest contracts was unveiled in November 2007, when the international tender for the construction of the broadcast centre was launched.

Construction for the future
Among the myriad challenges is the huge construction effort, an issue highlighted at a meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)’s coordination committee for Guangzhou in October 2007. Xu Ruisheng, GAGOC’s executive secretary general and vice mayor of Guangzhou, who had himself applauded the pace of preparations in August, presented a detailed progress report on a range of organisational issues including the development of venues and infrastructure. According to a statement by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the coordination committee strongly recommended that the number of competition venues be reduced from 62 to a manageable level, in order to reduce the overall costs of the Games.

GAGOC is addressing the concerns. Organisers insist they are taking the construction challenges in their stride. In a bid to underline their determination to hit all the organisational milestones, GAGOC set up a 25-strong supervision committee in September. This body is charged with monitoring preparations in the months up to 12 November 2010, when the opening ceremony raises the curtain on 15 days of competition.

So far so good. The high-ranking GACOG venues official tells Host City that plans are running to schedule. “Planning and preparatory construction work for new venues is being carried out simultaneously,” he says. Building contracts for the 14 new venues have gone out to tender.
The Chinese government, along with provincial and municipal authorities, have themed venue construction projects around “peace, ecology and civilization”. Respect for Guangzhou’s centuries-old historical and cultural traditions is being married to the imperative to meet the standards required for international sports facilities. Energy-saving and eco-friendly principles are informing design and construction in a bid to showcase the city’s commitment to sustainable development.

Among the iconic facilities used during the Games will be the existing Guangzhou Olympic Sports Center and Guangzhou Sports Stadium, both of which are in line for upgrades. The Asian Games Village, covering about 55 hectares of land and costing a reported RMB 1.8bn (USD 241m) is also set to impress. The GAGOC venue official says the start of construction work on the project next spring marks a major milestone in Games planning. Located in Shilou town in the Panyu District of Guangzhou less than 30 minutes drive from the main hub of Games venues, the Village is due for completion in December 2009.

On a recent visit to the Asian Games Village site, Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning stressed the importance of ensuring that the project meets the needs of athletes and officials at Games-time and also has a lasting legacy. Mayor Zhang also called for Games authorities to respect the environment in building work and to create supporting infrastructure to regenerate the area and allow for the resettlement of people. After the 2010 Games, the village will be transformed into a residential community and the apartments sold off.

A group of venues are being built at the University Town site. The South China Normal University Stadium is pictured here

Another massive undertaking for the Asian Games is the construction of a group of venues at the University Town site. Billed as “a new landmark of Guangzhou”, the University Town covers an area of 43.3 sq km.

GAGOC has yet to reveal the precise design details of its venue projects, but organisers are only embarking on projects that will enhance Guangzhou’s sporting and cultural heritage. “We must ensure that the designs of the venues meet the latest technical requirements and reflect the historical and cultural features of Guangzhou,” GAGOC’s venues official explains. “How to achieve a balance between both is another big challenge.”

As with the Doha Asian Games and next year’s Beijing Olympics, post-Games considerations are critical to its value. According to GAGOC, maximising legacy is one of the biggest challenges. The GAGOC venues official says: “Ensuring the efficient utilisation of venues after the Asian Games and meeting people’s requirements for mass sports is vital to success.”
So too is modernising the city's transport infrastructure. Developing a well-functioning transport system, with trouble-free traffic routes and sufficient parking that will benefit city residents and visitors for years to come, is high on the agenda.

Upgrades to road and rail transport networks are significant components of post-Games planning. To serve the quadrennial sports event, new roads will be built, connections to expressways improved, a high-speed railway system introduced and the subway network expanded. Under the city’s clean energy policy, all buses and taxis are set to be LPG-fuelled by 2010, a move that is expected to reduce Guangzhou’s annual diesel and gasoline consumption by 471,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, expansion of the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, about 25km from the city centre, will see its current capacity for 27 million passengers per year more than doubled.

While billions are being spent on transport improvements, GAGOC’s venues official confirms that the transportation makeover costs are firmly with legacy in mind. “Plans are subject to the requirements of the overall planning and development of Guangzhou city in a long period after the year 2010,” he says.

Clearly, Guangzhou can look forward to a bright future. After the Beijing Olympics, preparations for the Asian Games will step up a notch with GAGOC boosted by the transfer of knowledge and some personnel from the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG). The heat will then be on organisers to deliver on their pledges and meet expectations for a thrilling Games.