The emergence of social sustainability in the development of Olympic parks: the case of Sydney Olympic Park

Abstract

Since the publication of The Brundtland Report (1987), the debate sustainable development advanced to include environmental policies relating to the hard and soft sciences in various built-environment professions. However, despite the accomplishments of The Bruntland Report, a global sustainable society remains an elusive idea and begs another level of enquiry— the social. This thesis questions how and to what extent social sustainability emerges in the development of Sydney Olympic Park (SOP), considered a representative case of urban spectacle for the global city. The research established an analytical framework to investigate how the principles of social sustainability—local empowerment, identity and community—were considered in the longterm development of SOP: conceptualising the new visions introduced in the bid for the 2000 Olympic Games; developing the site for Games; managing the site in the post-2000 years; and living adjacent to SOP. These phases are defined as dreaming, delivering, defending, and dwelling. Primary data from in-depth interviews with urban planners and decision-makers involved with the development of SOP, and from focus groups with residents of the local neighbouring Newington and Wentworth Point areas, were complemented with data from archival document analysis and literature review. Findings show that the global city idea, predominant in the phases of dreaming, delivering and defending SOP, framed the environmental and emerging social sustainability initiatives through a narrative of place competitiveness. This led to defending SOP’s facilities of the parklands, sports and entertainment park, and business park, primarily for regional and internal communities. The limited involvement of local dwellers in strategies for empowerment has been detrimental to their association with the sustainability identity of SOP and their inclusion as part of SOP’s community. This is playing a toll on how SOP is developing as a more democratic, meaningful and connected place locally, jeopardising its social sustainability.