UCO London research tour (Stratford)

By: J. David Chapman/May 24, 2018

Things were abuzz in London as the country prepared for a royal wedding. Our nine-member team of student researchers is not creating a buzz on the royal wedding scale, but instead looking at the ramifications of what are being called privately owned public spaces, or POPS.

The term describes a controversial trend where cities turn over public land to private companies. One of the best examples of this land-granting technique is right here in London in an area called Stratford.

Stratford was once a desolate environmental wasteland, full of neglected buildings and run-down public housing. This entire area was regenerated with the 2012 London Olympics.

It set off a massive private-public partnership agenda by the government, which was insistent upon making the area great, but possibly more important to the citizens of London, leaving a legacy afterward.

Now six years from the completion of the Olympic Games, the built environment is an impressive case study of reusing facilities and producing public benefits using private assets.

Named the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and covering 560 acres, it has hosted more than 16 million visitors to date. All eight permanent venues have a legacy ahead of them.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is an iconic red, steel art piece in the center of the park and is now the world’s tallest and longest tunnel slide. The Copper Box arena is now home to the United Kingdom’s professional basketball team.

This is all topped off with 4,000 residential homes, which have been permitted in the East Village, where many of the Olympians stayed.

The students toured Here East, the former Olympic press center with almost 1 million square feet of space, which is now home to many large companies and one very cool shared working concept.

Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, VeloPark and London Aquatics Centre are open to the public.

Last and most controversial is the London Stadium. The stadium has been remodeled with public money only to be leased to West Ham United Football Club. Many citizens believe the complex deal made the football club’s wealthy owners ever richer – at the expense of the taxpayer.

The research process asked citizens in surrounding neighborhoods around the park questions to ascertain their perception of the park and the area.

J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).