FIFA World Cup

The Planetizen News Brief - 7/2/09

4:20 minutes (3.98 MB)

Rural areas feel the pain of renewable energy, Colorado catches rain, and London turns its temporary Olympic stadium permanent -- all on this week's Planetizen News Brief, airing weekly on the nationally-syndicated radio show "Smart City". Read, listen or download.

2 July 2009 - 5:00am

Download audio file

Nate Berg

London's Big Stadium Gamble

Tue, 06/30/2009 - 10:57

The Olympics can be awesome for cities. Or they can be devastating. Rarely they're both, and most often they are an economic drain caused by over-investment in facilities with limited long-term usability. So when London's plans for a 2012 Summer Olympics stadium that would reduce from 80,000 seats during the games to a more realistically usable 25,000 seats after, Olympics experts, city officials and taxpayers rejoiced. But recent news has turned that rejoice to disgust.

older posts

Crime, Rising Costs Draw Concerns for World Cup Host

With the first game of the 2010 World Cup exactly two years away, many in host country South Africa are concerned about rising inflation, increased violence, and skyrocketing costs of stadium construction.

11 June 2008 - 5:00am

ESPN