A partnership between Balfour Beatty and Places for People has been awarded a contract to create 1,500 new homes on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
With property prices spiralling in the UK capital, up to 30 of the housing is to be affordable and 500 properties will be for rental.
“This is the most successful and fastest growing city anywhere in Europe, and it is absolutely vital we provide thousands of new houses to allow people to live close to their places of work,” said Boris Johnson, mayor of London.
“I am thrilled to confirm we have now appointed high quality developers to help bring forward plans for these important new neighbourhoods on our iconic Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a whopping six years ahead of target.”
The joint venture between Places for People and Balfour Beatty was awarded the contact through a competitive process involving a shortlist of six other candidates.
“We are delighted by the high quality of the bid from Places for People and Balfour Beatty, which offers exciting opportunities for local people, businesses and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,” said David Goldstone, chief executive of London Legacy Development Corporation, responsible for redeveloping the park.
Over the next eight years, Balfour Beatty is to invest up to £35 million in the project – 50 per cent of the equity required.
Balfour Beatty is to deliver the entire construction aspect of the property development, which it anticipates will create approximately £400 million of revenue.
“I look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the London Legacy Development Corporation to ensure that commitments made as part of the London 2012 Games are delivered by not only creating new communities but also new jobs, and apprenticeships for young people wanting to join the growing infrastructure sector,” said Leo Quinn, chief executive of Balfour Beatty Group.
“With our partner, Places for People, we are very excited to be able to create these new, vibrant, sustainable communities for East London.”
Two new neighbourhoods are to be created, East Wick and Sweetwater, both at the western side of the park.
The designs include terraced and mews houses, in keeping with London’s residential architecture.
850 new homes and a primary school will be built in East Wick, in the north west of the Park next to Hackney Wick and the digital quarter, Here East.
650 new homes, a primary school and a health centre will be built in Sweetwater, in the south-west of the Park near Old Ford and the Copper Box Arena.
“This is East London’s moment and it’s our big moment too and we are thrilled to have been selected to be part of the transformation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,” said David Cowans, chief executive of Places for People.
“With our partner, Balfour Beatty, we have the perfect opportunity to work with the London Legacy Development Corporation to create a truly unique and exciting place to live.”
The project is set to be complete by 2023, bringing the new housing to the park six years earlier than scheduled in the original legacy masterplan.
Category: City Development
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Balfour Beatty to build 1,500 homes on Olympic Park
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Magical ideas to capture the public imagination
HOST CITY: Does culture have a prominent enough role within the Olympic Games now?
Helen Marriage: I think it’s great that there should be a cultural aspect to the Olympic Games, but competitive art is not how the world is these days. There’s a sense in which art does different things from sport, and that whole thing about winners and losers isn’t really how most artists would think.
What you’re dealing with in terms of the Olympics is a very big machine, which is very dedicated to the concept of winning and losing. I think a rebalancing of the significance of art and sport would be really interesting, though whether that can be achieved easily I have some doubt.
The thing about art that differentiates it from sport is the uncertainty. If you are running a sport event, you don’t know who’s going to win but you know what the format is – there are rules and regulations.
I think that London went as far as it is possible to have gone currently in terms of getting culture to be taken seriously as part of the Olympic effort.
HOST CITY: What was the cultural highlight of the Olympic Games for you?
Helen Marriage: I would of course say the project that we did for London 2012, by the director Deborah Warner and actor Fiona Shaw called Peace Camp. It was described by the New York Times as a “refugee camp from heaven” epitomising the story of the Olympics. It was a series of nine installations around the coast of the UK that welcomed visitors through the great poetry of our land. It was a beautiful, quiet, contemplative piece that showcased Britain as an island nation and it was really lovely.
There were really lovely things in London like Piccadilly Circus Circus, which was the opposite, with thousands of people and lots of energy. But the thing I loved about what we did was that it was the opposite of competition – it was really far away from London and you had to make an effort to get there.
HOST CITY: What’s your opinion of public art projects like the Arcelor-Mittal Orbit?
Helen Marriage: I completely understand the motivation for doing it, to build something that was there during the Games and would be there for legacy. It’s not necessarily to everyone’s taste, but those monumental sculptures are always interesting and provoking debate is part of the function of art anyway.
The thing about art is that it’s non-competitive – it’s about how an extraordinary, surprising, magical, unlikely idea can be conjured out of nothing.
Money spent is money spent, but all these things – sport, art, music and religion are all manifestations of our culture and it’s always great to do so as a public voice.
HOST CITY: What are the benefits of artistic events and installations for the people that live in cities?
Helen Marriage: There’s always the thing about looking at your city differently; and they can attract inward investment.
If you look at something like poppies at the Tower of London for Remembrance Day that’s an artwork; it started very quietly. It’s a really simple idea, it’s made millions of pounds for charity, five million people have been to see it, it’s created a real buzz and sense of destination, it was moving to people. Whether you think it is great art or not is not the point – it’s that it captures public imagination.
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IOC sponsor Samsung and Generations For Peace renew partnership
Global technology giant and International Olympic Committee TOP Partner Samsung has renewed its regional partnership with Generations For Peace for the eighth year running.
Samsung’s partnership with the NGO is based on shared values. The decision to renew the partnership was influenced by the success of Generation’s for Peace’s programmes and its recent strong performance in a global ranking.
“Since 2008, our partnership with Generations For Peace has been driven by our shared interest in social development through sport and education, and our shared focus on innovation, quality, impact and sustainability,” said Mr. Bumsuk Hong, President of Samsung Electronics Levant.
“We have been especially impressed with Generations For Peace’s recent ranking at #32 in the ‘Top 500 NGOs in the World’, and the results being achieved by empowering youth leaders and teachers to reduce violence, promoting tolerance and responsible citizenship in their communities and schools.”
Samsung’s support is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme “Hope For Children”.
Generations For Peace, the only peace-through-sport organisation officially recognised by the IOC, runs programmes in the Levant region that use sport to educate, develop and influence the behaviour of young people.
The programmes in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine empower volunteers to address local issues of conflict and violence in their own communities.
HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, IOC Member and the Founder and Chairman of Generations For Peace, said: “As our longest-serving partner, Samsung’s support is a wonderful example of an Olympic TOP Partner supporting our work at a regional level. In communities and schools, we are using sport to transform conflict and empower children, youth, and teachers.
“We are also using Samsung’s technology to benefit our programmes. Samsung and Generations For Peace are combining our passion and expertise together, to inspire the world and create a better future.”
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Tessa Jowell: boost events and culture through visitor tax
Dame Tessa Jowell MP, former Secretary of State for the Olympic Games has proposed that a one per cent tax on hotel stays should be brought in to fund events, culture and youth development in London.
The tax could raise GB£50m per year, London newspaper the Evening Standard reported.
These funds would be used to stage events such as the New Year’s Eve Fireworks, as well as creating a culture fund for local boroughs, enabling town halls to apply for funds to host free community events.
The revenues would also be diverted to helping create equal access to cultural and leisure activities for children in London. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, the families of 200,000 London children can’t afford leisure equipment such as bicycles, while 100,000 can’t afford extra-curricular activities such as music lessons.
Other major world cities such as Paris and Rome already tax tourists on their hotel stays. In New York City, non-residents are charged more than 14 per cent on their hotel bills to contribute to city’s finances.
The tax could only be introduced in London if the government grants new powers to the Mayor and London’s boroughs.
Dame Tessa Jowell is the pollster’s favourite to be Labour’s candidate for the Mayor of London. The Mayor will be elected in May 2017.
The former Secretary of State responsible for all planning of Olympic bid and implementation was a member of the London Olympic Board from 2010 to 2012. During the Games, she was Deputy Mayor of the Olympic Village
She is speaking in the opening panel discussion on “Why Events Matter to Cities” at HOST CITY 2015: The Largest Meeting of Cities and Sports, Culture and Business Events on 27 and 28 October.
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IOC president talks with China’s foreign minister
On a diplomatic trip to Switzerland, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met with IOC president Thomas Bach on Monday and underlined the government’s commitment to the Winter Olympic Games in 2022.
Joined by IOC vice-president Yu Zaiqing, president Bach praised the China’s development of sport in and its leadership on the role of sport in development internationally.
“China has a real vision about the importance of sport for education, for social cohesion and for international representation,” said Bach.
“I would like to thank again President Xi for not only promoting the role of sport in China but also for supporting the mention of sport within the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.”
The UN Member States are expected to use the SDGs as goals and targets to frame their agendas and political policies over the next 15 years.
Bach also praised the “outstanding development of sport” in China under the leadership of president Xi Jinping.
The meeting took place in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, shortly after the IOC Evaluation Commission’s inspection of Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Wang reiterated that the Chinese government is fully supportive of the bid, assuring the IOC that all commitments made during the bidding phase would be implemented.
He was in Lausanne for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, along with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, with whom Bach discussed Russia’s contribution to the UN SDGs and his upcoming visit to Sochi at the end of April.
Bach also met with Germany’s foreign minister, Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier and discussed the bidding procedure for the 2024 Olympic Games. -
Qatar Financial Centre Authority partners with SportAccord Convention
SportAccord Convention has signed Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority as a Bronze Partner for this year’s World Sport & Business Summit, taking place from 19-24 April 2015, at the Sochi Expocentre, Sochi, Russia.
“Ahead of the 2019 World Athletics Championship and the FIFA World Cup 2022, business opportunities are thriving across sports-related industries in Qatar, ” said Martin Tidestrom, business development director, Qatar Financial Centre Authority.
“The SportAccord Convention will allow us to engage first-hand with industry leaders, key policymakers, and service and technology suppliers looking to establish a presence in Qatar.”
The QFC Authority is an on-shore business and financial centre located in Doha and has been instrumental in helping to develop the private sector in Qatar.
“The SportAccord Convention provides a unique opportunity for the Qatar Financial Centre Authority to fulfil its obligations and commitments, by enabling access to Sport and Industry Leaders, in one location, at the World Sport & Business Summit,” said Nis Hatt, managing director, SportAccord Convention.
“We’re delighted to have the QFC Authority onboard and wish them every success at the Convention.”
The SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit is a unique opportunity for key decision-makers in sport to engage with business leaders across 25+ industry sectors. The 6-day event features a 3-day Conference, dynamic exhibition, LawAccord, City Forum, MediaAccord, the SportAccord Convention Village and Sports Demo Zone, as well as hosting the SportAccord Sports Awards, and the annual general meetings of governing bodies of world sport.
Established by the Government of Qatar in 2005, the QFC is an on-shore centre which has become an integral part of Qatar’s economy and rapid growth story and is fulfilling its mandate to help build a world-class financial and business environment in Qatar, providing a platform for domestic, regional and international growth. The QFC Authority is the commercial and strategic arm of the QFC, it is responsible for developing and ensuring compliance with the QFC regulations and rules comprising the QFC’s legal and tax environments and it helps firms to quickly establish a physical presence in Qatar and the region.
The QFC continues to attract a broad range of leading regulated and non-regulated firms, both domestic and international. QFC-licensed firms benefit from an environment which operates to international standards, with a legal system based on English Common Law, regulation which is risk and principles-based, and a competitive tax regime. -
Orange Jordan partners with Generations For Peace
Generations For Peace and Orange Jordan on Tuesday announced a new phase in their partnership, which will benefit Generations For Peace programmes in schools and community centres across Jordan.
Under the new partnership, Orange Jordan will provide direct and in-kind support for the Jordan Schools Programme, which addresses violence in schools, and the Social Cohesion Programme, which builds “conflict transformation skills” at community level.
Orange Jordan will also continue to support the telecommunications needs of GFP’s Amman-based headquarters.
“Both Orange Jordan and Generations For Peace share the same goal: to change lives by connecting people and improving communications,” said HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, founder and chairman of Generations For Peace.
“This is at the heart of Orange Jordan’s service offering to businesses and communities; it is also at the heart of GFP’s work to transform conflict and reduce violence through dialogue in communities around the world.
“We are proud to call Orange Jordan our exclusive telecoms partner for our programmes in Jordan.”
The “in-kind” support includes marketing activities. The two organisations will work together to awareness and support amongst Orange Jordan customers for Generations For Peace programmes.
Programme participants will have opportunities to engage in Orange Foundation vocational skills training, while Orange Jordan employees will also be able to participate in Generations For Peace-led volunteer activities in communities.
The new agreement builds on the successful partnership between Generations For Peace and Orange Jordan which started in 2012.
“We are thrilled to be able to extend our partnership with Generations For Peace, and demonstrate our commitment to improving local communities in Jordan,” said Jean-Francois Thomas, Group CEO of Orange Jordan.
“GFP’s mission aligns directly with our corporate social responsibility to serve our customers and their wider communities.”
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Glasgow to create more volunteering opportunities
Glasgow City Council on Tuesday revealed plans to provide quality volunteering opportunities, with demand for opportunities is growing in the wake of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The council says its new volunteering policy is “designed to create new volunteering opportunities, recognise the contribution that volunteers make to the city and the added value they bring to the council family”.
Volunteering opportunities are currently encouraged through services provided by the council and associated organisations, including mentoring and befriending, tutoring, sports coaching, outdoor activity and assisting with events.
But the council has discovered that Glasgow’s residents are increasingly seeking volunteering opportunities to allow them to contribute to their community, as a means of social engagement and to increase their experience and employability.
The volunteer effort was one of the most successful elements of the acclaimed Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. More than 1200 Host City Volunteers and 15,000 Clydesiders were praised for their efforts as well as the cast ceremony volunteers, Queen’s Baton Relay batonbearers and event teams giving up their time and putting in the effort to help deliver the best ever Games.
This has encouraged many people to seek out new volunteering opportunities, but there is currently a gap between the number of people who want to volunteer and the number of quality opportunities being advertised.
“We have seen a significant increase in public awareness and interest in volunteering in Glasgow, but only a moderate growth in opportunities in which people can get involved,” said David Maxwell, Operation Manager at Volunteer Glasgow.
“The city’s partners including the council, Glasgow Life and Volunteer Glasgow, are challenging themselves and other organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors to take the chance of benefiting communities by enabling more people to donate their time, skills and energy in different and inventive ways.”
The council says it hopes to encourage volunteers to become more involved in their local communities and contribute to the design and delivery of services in their area to better meet the needs of the local community.
Special effort will be made to recruit volunteers from all backgrounds and be more inclusive – making sure those not usually able to access advertised opportunities will be able to do so. Guidance is expected to be issued on encouraging young people under 16 and asylum seekers to volunteer.
Councillor Archie Graham, Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council said: “We want to foster a mutually beneficial relationship with volunteers, where they can bring new skills and perspective to us while fulfilling their volunteering ambitions.
“This new policy is certainly not about replacing staff with volunteers. These new opportunities will be things that wouldn’t ordinarily have been undertaken if it weren’t for volunteers.
“It’s about recognising that there is a demand from people who want to volunteer for a whole host of reasons and about helping to fill that gap to benefit the individuals, our local communities and society as a whole.
“The added bonus is that our organisation will also benefit from the wealth and breadth of views, skills and experience that the volunteers will bring with them.”
The announcement was made after Volunteer Glasgow held its first Alistair Malloy Inspire Awards in the City Chambers on Monday night and national Volunteers’ Week drew to a close.
The Inspire Award nominees demonstrate the impact of volunteering in health and social care, housing and homelessness, refugee integration, sport and events, the environment, employability and community development.
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DHL increases support package for Generations For Peace
DHL Express, Jordan has extended its support for Generations For Peace to increase the sustainability and impact of the Jordan Schools Programme.
The two organisations share an understanding of the fundamental importance of education, youth leadership and community empowerment. Generations For Peace focuses on empowering teachers and students to address local issues of conflict within schools, which compliments and aligns with DHL’s own “Go Teach” corporate social responsibility goals.
“Whilst hailing from different enterprise sectors, we share the common objectives and values that true partnership requires; we both believe that in working together we can achieve more positive impact,” said HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Founder and Chairman of Generations For Peace.
To mark this important milestone in the partnership, HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein attended a special DHL event on 26 May celebrating Jordan Independence Day, in the presence of Mr Mahmoud Haj Hussein and his fellow DHL Express senior management team.
“Ours is a relationship that has been nurtured over three years and we are delighted to be able to further build on our commitment to Generations For Peace,” said Mahmoud Haj Hussein, Country Manager for DHL Express Jordan.
“At the heart of our highly valued collaboration is the promise that we are both dedicated to delivering excellence, a brighter future and significant improvements to many people’s lives.”
DHL will continue to support global shipments to Generations For Peace programmes across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
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Vatican hosts mayors to control climate and trafficking
Mayors of the world’s cities are meeting at the Vatican on Tuesday and Wednesday to tackle climate change and human trafficking, in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris later in the year.
The mayors are discussing how cities can help solve these problems in a workshop on Tuesday on “Modern Slavery and Climate Change: the Commitment of the Cities” and a symposium on Wednesday on “Prosperity, People, and Planet: Achieving Sustainable Development in Our Cities”.
The conference, called by Pope Francis, is hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the academy said: “We intend for the mayors to commit to promoting the empowerment of the poor and of those who live in vulnerable conditions in our cities and in our urban settlements, reducing their exposure to extreme weather events caused by radical environmental, economic and social instabilities, which create fertile ground for forced migration and human trafficking.”
Mayors attending the conference come from cities in all continents, including many Olympic bidding and hosting cities.
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said: “I am honoured to have the opportunity to represent the City of Boston at the Vatican to discuss the vital issues of human trafficking and protecting our environment. I look forward to joining my peers from around the world to collaborate on how we can prepare our cities for the future.”
Kingston Mayor, Angela Brown Burke said: “Here in Jamaica we are constantly reminded of our contribution to and the effects of human-induced climate change as we experience hotter days and nights, less rainfall and longer periods of drought.
Oslo Mayor Stian Berger Røsland said: “When we say humans must, and can, reduce our climate gas emissions, people do not envision a good public transport system or responsible building legislation. But when cities emit 70% of the world’s CO2, clearly, we do have game-changing tools.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said: “Modern slavery and climate disruption are two major and intertwined issues for our capital cities. We shall face these challenges collectively, engaging the political and spiritual forces of our local communities.”
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said: “C40 cities have the potential to reduce their annual cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion tons by 2020, which shows that together and coordinated, leaders have the power to protect the cities, our common home.”
Rome Mayor Ignazio R. Marino said: “Rome is committed to create a permanent network between cities wishing to engage in the fight against climate change thanks to good energy saving practices.”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said: “Pope Francis’ leadership will build on the resounding unity of big cities worldwide in calling for meaningful and binding emissions targets, and for a climate agreement signed in Paris that respects the needs of our cities, our planet and the generations to come.”
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP21, will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.