The 2012 Olympic Games at Stratford: the latest East London regeneration initiative considered

This paper considers these questions by discussing the plausibility of the assumptions which underpin the Olympic project and the governance structures that are intended to secure benefits for East Londoners. This approach enables us to strip away some of the hype that is typical of mega sporting events which use powerful and persuasive narratives and images to portray their ‘legacy’ (see for example MacRury 2011). The 2012 Games are no exception and slogans such as ‘the power of the Games to inspire lasting change’ and ‘transformative momentum’ exemplify this idealism. But what practical arrangements are in place to make this rhetoric a reality for those living in East London? This paper traces the reality of regeneration initiatives that have populated Stratford since the 1980s and questions how much learning from previous regeneration initiatives has been incorporated into the theoretical propositions that underpin the Olympic regeneration experiment. A problems perspective is used to inform the discussion, the characteristics of successive regeneration initiatives implemented at Stratford reviewed, and the Olympic regeneration approach described to suggest that the outcomes for the most disadvantaged are likely to fall well-short of what could be achieved.