- SAFETY - AIR POLLUTION - CAB DRIVERS - WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE -
THE OLYMPIC GAP
Tickets are sold out, new venues are built, stadiums are finished and the last sports tests are run. London is truly finalizing its preparations in order to be ready for the Olympic Games of 2012. Whatever your opinion may be of the Olympic Games, this year’s 27th summer edition is going to be massive! Hundreds of years ago the Greeks began to organize competitions that showed the physical abilities of many people. In our time, these competitions have developed itself into the biggest sporting event in the world; the Olympic Games. In 2005 London’s bid for the Olympic Games of 2012 was selected by the International Olympic Committee. The British capital is the first city having received the honor to host the Games for the third time, after the previous successful games in 1908 and 1948. More than 10.500 athletes who come from all across the world will attend and display their skills during the Olympics. This year’s Olympics will host 26 different sporting events and 302 award ceremonies. The opening ceremony starts on July 27 in the newly built Olympic stadium with rock band Coldplay rocking the stage. Considering The Olympics, all that glitters is not gold. London’s total estimated amount reaches over 10 billion Pounds, the air quality is terribly affected, and taxi drivers are already dissatisfied with the unfair competition. LNDN O’12 reveals the facts and offers more insight behind the scenes of the organization of the Olympic Games in 2012. Mind the gap and Judge for yourself!
THE EDITORS OF O’12
1
SAFETY GUARANTEED
3
Olympic Games, London. Eight million citizens and four million visitors. All of the need to be protected against many threads. But who and how are they going to protect them?
WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE Recently the first test event took place in the Olympic Aquatic Centre. We went there to take a look at the Gas Swimming Championships and got a first glimpse of the Olympic athmosphere.
AIR POLLUTION
London has amongst the worst air qualities of Europe. It is breaching European air pollution limits. The UK government is not showing significant action to improve air quality during the Olympics.
CAB DRIVER’s OPINION
The Olympic Route Network (ORN) has aroused frustration from cab drivers in particular. Where does their frustration come from and how do London’s measures affect their industry?
O’12 Crew Writers - Kylie Brons - Roxanne Bartels Research - Stephan Knegt - Sergio Cayarga Editor - Writer - Video - Gerrit van der Vreugd
6 9
12 Photography - Video - Matthias Nachbaur Design - Photography - Video - Jori Pol
by Roxanne Bartels
There
will be 13.500 British military troops, 12.000 police officers, 23.700 private security man, thousand American police officers, 400 paratroopers, 55 dog teams, bomb experts and snipers who have returned from the Afghanistan war. The security bill is estimated at more than 1.2 billion Euros. The British authorities have issued security color Orange, which means that there is a high risk of terrorist activities. “From what I’ve heard the government will raise the security level into the highest rank just before the Olympic games start to get everyone focused,’’ according to Dutch London correspondent Lia van Bekhoven, who keeps close contact with the organizers of the London Olympics.
Past London attacks
The British government leaves nothing to chance when it comes down to the protection of its citizens, foreign visitors and last but not least the athletes during the Olympics. And this seems proportional while thinking of the four million extra visitors during the Olympics and the numerous (terrorist) bomb attacks London citizens experienced in the past forty years. Outside of the suicide bombings on July 7, 2005, which killed 52 passengers, London has experienced dozens of bomb attacks. In 1973 the first serious attack occurred in London performed
by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Many of these bombings are not well-known to the general public. “Even though a billion Pounds exclusively for security is a large amount of money, the past bombings have shown that security is extremely important during such an event,” Seb Lau, a 27-year old London citizen, states.
Police officer perspective
The MET Police Service, which is mainly responsible for the police operations in London, have structured the Olympic safety operation into three parts: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The ‘Gold’ team sets the overall policing strategy, and is responsible for delivering the operation. Team ‘Silver’ is responsible for deciding which policing tactics can best deliver Gold’s strategy. And the ‘Bronze’ team level has a responsibility for either a geographical part of London, or a specialist area of policing, such as community engagement. Tom Davis, a 32-year old police officer from the Metropolitan Police Service (MET), is afraid the security coordination will fail “My most important task during the Olympics is to give people a basic level of security by answering questions and walking around. When major problems occur, like terroristic attacks, I must contact the army. We haven’t received many instructions yet. In order to
3
“100 military troops showed media and bystanders a security rehearsal by using the most avanced techniques”
perform my job I need to get informed about the security protocol. For me the Olympics is a special, but at the same time, stressful event.” On the busiest days during the Summer Games, up to 9000 of Davis’s colleagues will be in service. They will be responsible for the prevention and detection of crime, and protection of life and property.
Police and military measures
In preparation of the Olympics the military and police performed various security rehearsals over the last ten months. A spectacular exercise on the river Thames is an example. 100 military troops showed media and bystanders a security rehearsal by using the most advanced techniques and materials, such as Typhoon jets, Puma and Lynx helicopters; all to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack. However a report of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Safety and Security Strategic Risk Assessment (OSSSRA) indicates that London’s organization doesn’t exclude the risk of unusual events such as cyber-attacks, severe weather, and human epidemics. These events can influence the Olympics in a major way. For now security forces seem to have optimal control of the Olympic security. However given the large number of attacks that can occur, it is questionable whether the security measures are sufficient. u
5
Swim to Glory In the South East of the newly built Olympic Park, London’s Olympic Aquatics Centre is stationed. Here the pressure is on Britain’s best swimmers as they compete against each other for the British Gas Swimming Championships (selection trials). Not only will these Gas Swimming
Championships decide who qualifies for the Olympics, or Paralympics; it is also the first swimming event to be held in the London Aquatics Centre.
The selection trials ran from 3-10 March and LNDN 0’12 went inside the iconic, wave-shaped Olympic stadium to witness and capture the selection trials among Britain’s best swimmers on the 8th of March. For us it was an oppurtunity to see and maybe get a feel how it will be this summer.
7
by Kylie Brons
W
hile the world is excited about the upcoming Olympic games of 2012 in London, the UK faces challenges concerning London’s air quality. ‟London has amongst the worst air quality of all Europeean capitals- and is violating the European air pollution limits. The Olympics will breach European air quality laws even more’’ says Simon Birkett director and founder of Clean Air London.
The Chinese authorities took major steps to save Beijing’s Olympic games in 2008 from smog suffocation. They stopped all construction work and banned 50 percent of the amount of cars from its city roads. London’s air is nothing like the Chinese Capital’s was in 2008. Even so, London has a very high level of air pollution which exceeds the European air pollution limits. Therefore, Clean Air London proposed a complaint against the UK.
THE CLEAN AIR LONDON COMPLAINT Complaint against UK for infringements of EU air quality law. Request for ?nfraction action by 30 April 2012 to enforce PM10 and NO2 limit values. ‘Part one’ of the Complaint is that UK obtained unlawfully a time extension to comply with the PM10 daily limit value in London. Even if a time extension is sustained, the PM10 daily limit value was breached anyway in Neasden Lane in London in 2011 ‘Part two’ of the Complaint is that UK breached the NO2 annual mean and daily limit values in London and 16 other zones in 2010 (and 2011) and has not applied for a time extension. UK’s High Court says only the European Commission can enforce air quality laws NO2 levels in London and UK are the highest in Europe and similar to those in Beijing before the 2008 Olympics. In sharp contrast to the People’s Republic of China, there is no evidence Europe is seeking to enforce or comply with air quality standards during the Olympics. Source: http://www.cleanairinlondon.org/blog/_archives/2012/2/20/5001829.html
Transport For London(TFL) created a report by March 2012 called ‘The Emissions and Air Quality Impacts of the 2012 Olympic Route Network and related traffic management arrangements’. This report states that the Olympics 2012 have no heavy impact on the air quality in London. Transport For London (TFL), speaks of ‘broadly neutral impact on air quality’ during the Olympics. However, the report does state that certain areas may face little and temporarily increase of two pollutant types, namely PM10 and NO2. Clean Air London (CAL) says that this temporarily and little increase reveals that the Olympic Route Network (ORN) willWW indeed breach air pollution law. Simon Birkett exposed his concerns during our interview. ‟The average air pollution may not increase but it is unacceptable that the pollution will increase in some areas, what about the Londoners living here?’’, said Simon Birkett.
“The 4300 people living in London, who are exposed the worst air pollution, are losing on average 11,5 years of life” A study of last autumn by ‘Soot Free Cities’ stated London the worst in Europe. Another study under Mayor Boris Johnson, by Doctor Brian G. Miller in June 2012, estimates the mortality impacts of particular air pollution in London. In other words, this is an estimation of how many Londoners die early due to the consequences of air pollution. The data and conclusions of these studies cause Clean Air London to be even more concerned.
The government of the UK’s focus refers to the air pollution consequences on average. According to CAL, the consequences of significant air pollution in certain areas in London should be given more attention. ‟The 4300 people living in London, who are exposed the worst air pollution, are losing on average 11,5 years of life,’’ says Simon Birkett during our interview.
“there is no evidence to be found that significant action will be taken by the government” CAL calls for bold action taken by the UK government to tackle the air pollution problem in certain areas during the Olympics 2012. So far, there is no evidence to be found that significant action will be taken by the government and current Mayor Boris Johnson. Due to the upcoming elections in the UK it is unclear which Mayor will host the Olympics. As air pollution is a great concern of London’s inhabitants, the elections are revealing opportunities for the Clean Air Campaign by CAL. Air quality might be ranked higher on the UK’s political agenda. An important challenge that might affect the organization of The Olympics 2012 in London. u
CLEAN AIR IN LONDON 11
London is the most congested city of Europe which contains more than 7.825.000 citizens. Though they have organized the Olympics twice before, they have never faced a challenge similar to this one. According to experts, London can expect an additional amount of 4.000.000 people during the Olympic Games of 2012, which is more than half of its population. In order to guide everyone in London to their desired destination Transport for London (TFL) has proposed to make use of separate lanes. Transport for London is the local government organization responsible for managing transport service across London. The lanes are part of the wider Olympic Route Network which will be roadwork free and will criss-cross through some of London’s most congested areas. The lanes will be about 60 miles in length and the ORN will take several traffic measures to facilitate the movement of Olympic athletes, VIPs, Olympic sponsors and the media during the Olympics.
by Gerrit van der Vreugd
W
ith the London Olympics 2012 just around the corner, London is preparing itself for a huge wave of tourists coming into their city. Ever since they were awarded the Olympics they have been looking for methods to ensure reasonable travelling times for all of its residents and visitors. The introduction of an Olympic Route Network (ORN) along with dedicated Game Lanes for athletes, VIPs and media has led to frustration from UK residents and businesses, including London taxi drivers. Where does their frustration come from and how do London’s measures affect their industry?
“ London can expect an additional amount of 4.000.000 people during the Olympic Games of 2012”
Initially, London cab drivers were quite optimistic towards the thought of having the Olympic Games in London. An additional cab fare increase of 5.3 per cent, plus the extra amount of people passing through London during the Olympics, gave cab drivers the idea that they would get an excellent summer. Obviously, the cab drivers were aware of the congestion issue involving traffic in London, though they were convinced that the government would come up with a solution which would get VIPs,
athletes and visitors towards their destination without putting the cab drivers out of business. Their optimism, however, rapidly changed into skepticism when the separate lanes were instigated. Cab drivers aren’t allowed to use these separate lanes and are forced off the main road into congested bus lanes; making the life of a cab driver during the Olympics a lot more difficult. According to the majority of cab drivers, London will face complete chaos as there are thousands of spectators, travelers, cabs and other commercial vehicles which will end up in one congested lane. Terrence Hutchinson, a 60 year old London cab driver with 36 years’ experience, states: “We are expecting a big volume of people during the Olympics and cab drivers are very concerned that going around London is going to be very hard. ”According to him the cab drivers’ concerns and pessimism towards the TFL’s transport measures are so serious that some of them are going to take their holiday during the Olympics. Lennard, a 40 year old London cab driver with 12 years’ experience, confirms this statement, he states: “I’m going to take my days off during the Olympic Games this summer. Customers are going to be frustrated because they will get stuck in traffic as a result of the separate lanes.” The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association anticipated the upcoming dilemmas and threatened that 40 per cent of its members would not work unless evening rates applied during the day. Other taxi drivers opposed the idea. According to them applying evening rates would irreparably damage their reputation, which would have an immediate effect on their clientele. u
CAB DRIVER’S
OPINION
13
O’12 Crew Writers - Kylie Brons - Roxanne Bartels Research - Stephan Knegt - Sergio Cayarga Editor - Writer - Video - Gerrit van der Vreugd
Photography - Video - Matthias Nachbaur Design - Photography - Video - Jori Pol