Facilities and infrastructure

Hosting a major sporting event can lead to investment in various facilities and infrastructure, such as sport specific facilities and stadia, transport infrastructure (e.g., public transport or road upgrades), housing (athlete villages may later become available as private or social housing), increased hotel accommodation, accessibility upgrades for existing facilities, roads, buildings, and more.

Infrastructure investment, whether public or private, can help to boost employment during the construction and operation phases, and increase or improve essential community services, including accessible green spaces. ^{3, 4}

Infrastructure Australia’s Sustainability Principles, opens in a new tab (2021) state that facilities and infrastructure should be planned, designed, procured, constructed, and operated to optimise the social, economic, environmental and governance outcomes across the entire lifecycle of the asset, which is longer than the specific event period. ⁵

Hosts of major sporting events, especially the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games are increasingly being encouraged to upgrade existing facilities or use temporary structures, rather than building unsustainable facilities solely for events. ^{6, 7, 8}

Evidence suggests that facility and infrastructure planning that adopts a long-term, multi-dimensional approach, with a focus on community needs, can produce a positive return on investment when measured over many years. ^{4, 9}

Universal design principles

Universal Design, opens in a new tab is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability, or disability. An environment (or any building, product, or service in that environment) should be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it. ¹⁰

While most frequently highlighted as a key consideration for people with disability, universal design principles also support improved experiences for everyone, from older people or those with limited mobility, to clear information for the benefit of people who have difficulty reading or understanding complicated information (e.g., those with lower literacy, or where the dominant language is not their first language).

Improved accessibility, universal design, and sustainability outcomes have become key parts of major event bidding, especially for the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games. Some examples of legacy outcomes and plans include:

• Legacy and sustainable policy, opens in a new tab, Paris 2024, (June 2022). Paris 2024, in alignment with the IOC Agenda 2020 and in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, is committed to organize Olympic and Paralympic Games of a new era, including integrating universal accessibility in an exemplary way as early as the Games conception, with the aim of ensuring an inclusive experience for all and leaving a material and immaterial legacy.
• Beijing 2022 to bring greater accessibility for persons with disabilities, opens in a new tab, Beijing 2022/paralympic.org, (25 November 2021). Accessible facility and infrastructure improvements included: curb ramps put in place across most of Beijing, 12,528 tactile guide paths, 2,986 pedestrian crossings and 32 flyovers and underground passages repaired. 12,700 bus stops, underground stations and parking lots were made accessible. Entrance ramps and accessible handrails installed in 41,223 government, leisure, commercial, cultural, sporting, and public spaces, as well as 28,901 residential buildings that house disabled and elderly people. Over 600 government websites and apps have been more accessible. 30 accessibility design standards covering areas like facilities, residential communities, public buildings, municipal roads, and rail transit introduced.
• Japan’s Adoption of Universal Design Ahead of Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020, opens in a new tab, Global Accessibility News, (27 February 2017). In a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Abe on Wednesday afternoon (22 February) in Tokyo, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven praised the Japanese government for the approval of the Universal Design 2020 Action Plan.
• Post-Games Sustainability Report, opens in a new tab, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation, (August 2018). Facility and infrastructure outcomes included: 18 world-class venues hosting 6,600 athletes and technical officials; 7 upgraded sports venues, 3 new sports venues, 1 new multi-purpose venue; 1,252 Commonwealth Games Village apartments and townhouses for legacy rental accommodation; 7.3km light rail extension completed.
• Shaping neighbourhoods accessible London: achieving an inclusive environment, opens in a new tab, Mayor of London, (2014). This guide builds on the lessons learnt from hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure that all new developments in the London are built to the very highest levels of accessibility.
• Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2019-2022, opens in a new tab, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, (2019). Before, during and after hosting the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, access and inclusion for diverse communities have been central tenets of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct, including establishing an Access Advisory Committee as part of the Games co-ordination, which continues to play a key role in the park development today. ¹¹

Resources and reading