Whether you've realized it yet or not, soccer is a big deal in this gloabalizing world. And every four years it's a huge deal for one country: the host of the FIFA World Cup. All eyes are on the host country for the 32-team tournament, which is the most-watched sporting event in the world. And though showtime is just one month long, the host spends years vying, preparing and investing for the tournament. It has major potential to spur broad countrywide improvements and economic development. So when the U.S. made news recently by offering forth 70 stadia as possible host sites for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup (along with a reputation booster from President Barack Obama), I had to filter out my national pride. Sure, the U.S. would make a good and clearly able host for the event, but it seems that the potential of the World Cup could be better directed towards a country that really needs large-scale civic improvement and investment.
Olympics
Vancouver's Sustainable Olympic Village
With goals of LEED-certification and plans for reuse after the games, Vancouver's Olympic Village is being called a model for event-based sustainability.
Architectural Record
Beijing's Olympic Pollution Efforts Fall Short
Despite efforts to clean up Beijing during last year's Olympic Games, pollutant reductions were very minor, according to a new report.
ScienceNOW Daily News
Beijing Extends Car Restrictions
A slightly watered-down version of the traffic reduction methods the Chinese city of Beijing instituted in Summer 2008 to reduce congestion and pollution during the Olympics has been extended for another year.
Associated Press
Unofficial International Olympic Committee Tours Chicago's 2016 Venues
The Chicago Tribune formed its own panel of international judges -- made up of tourists -- to tour and evaluate the city's proposed venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chicago Tribune
The Future of Vancouver Transit, Post-Olympics
In anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics, transportation planners in Vancouver are plotting permanent expansions to the city's public transit system. Demand will be high during the games, but many wonder what will happen after.
The Tyee
Olympic Park Still Serving Beijing
The Olympic Forest Park in Beijing is standing out as one of the rare Olympics-related projects to remain in use after the 2008 event. Hu Jie, the park's designer, talks about its planning and the role of public space in Beijing.
Bangkok Post
The Planetizen News Brief - 2/26/09
4:30 minutes (4.17 MB)
China's Olympic building bust, America's struggling small towns, and why those small towns represent the future of the U.S. -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City". Read, listen or download.
Emptiness in Beijing After Olympic Building Boom
The 2008 Summer Olympics brought a boom of construction to host city Beijing. But now, six months later, much of the office space built in the lead up to the games sits empty -- and likely will for years.
Los Angeles Times
2012 Olympics Create 30,000 Jobs and Counting
The 2012 Olympics in London -- a one month event three years away -- has already created nearly 30,000 construction jobs.
Building
Vancouver's Olympic Architecture Falls Short
This column from The Tyee looks at the architecture for Vancouver's 2010 Olympic games and is not impressed.
The Tyee
Protests Arise as Historic Chicago Park Eyed as Olympic Site
As part of its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, the city of Chicago has proposed a slight change to the layout of its Olympic stadia. The only problem is that the newly proposed site for the aquatics center is listed on the National Register.
Chicago Tribune
Building a Resort on an Olympic Foundation
As it prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the beachfront Russian city of Sochi is hoping to become an attractive resort city. Money is flowing and development is under way, but some expect growing pains.
The New York Times
Affordable Housing as 'Olympic Legacy'
Vancouver Olympic officials have announced that temporary Olympic housing units will be reused as permanent affordable housing after the Games.
The Province
Le Corbusier's Baghdad Sports Complex Revealed
In the mid-1900s architect Le Corbusier designed a grand sports complex for Baghdad as part of the city's bid for the 1960 Olympics. That bid failed and the project was never built. Now, original drawings and designs are on display.
Building Design
Vancouver to House Homeless For Olympics Preparation
In an effort to clean up the poverty ridden area set to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, officials have announced plans to place homeless people into housing next summer.
The Globe and Mail
Beijing Sees Brighter Future Than Athens
As the Olympics leave town, Beijing appears to be in a much better position to benefit from the games than previous Summer Olympic host Athens.
Yahoo Sports
Beijing's Temporary Clean Air Policies May Stick
With some of the its cleanest air in decades, Beijing is warming up to some of the pollution-cutting regulations officials have enacted during the Olympics. Some may become permanent.
China Daily
'Reality's' Reveal
Wed, 08/20/2008 - 18:16
With the Olympics nicely coinciding with my vacation, I think I’ve watched more coverage of the games than the average human should. Prior to the start of the games, I followed with interest the story of how Beijing was re-fashioning itself to host the games. Much has been written on this subject from the loss of the city’s “hutongs” to the “distorted” messages conveyed by the starchitecture. Some have referred to Beijing as a “Houston on steroids.”
Olympic Games Not Performing For Beijing Businesses
The economic boost expected from Olympics-related tourism has fallen way short of predictions in Beijing. Many business people blame the government's stringent visa-granting policies.
The Christian Science Monitor
