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Bejing Controversies About New Construction


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I just re-read this.  It is scary that Paul Andreu, the French architect who designed the collapsing terminal at Paris' airport is building a dome in Bejing!  :help:
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hmmmm well this is certainly a way to involve the public in the process of preparing for the Games  :laughlong:

:laughlong:  :laughlong:  :laughlong:

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Seems there are some issues being raised about all of the construction going on for '08.

Olympic Sized Crisis Hits Bejing

300,000 people are being "relocated?"  :help:

OMG!!!

300,000. That's ridiculous! If Manchester had won their Olympic bid and had a similar policy to this they'd be no Manchester anymore as this is the size of their population!

I'm going to copy a post I wrote in another thread:

..we're talking of a big problem specifically related to the Olympics not a seperate political or economic one. None of the other 2008 bidding cities would have been allowed to go about construction in this manner. Similarly, the 2012 legacy and construction plans are a huge part of the bid books. If London decided it wasn't going to compensate the relativly small number who have to move for their Olympic Park plan, even in in the bidding stage there would be outrage and rightly so.

But we're not talking about the bidding stage and "what ifs" which is what the 2012 cities are doing. We're talking about real life events happening now. That makes this situation very bad indeed. And what makes it worse is I haven't heard a peep from the IOC about this situation. The IOC are more than ready to poke their nose in when London offers free flights and phone cards, or when some French celebrity unconnected with Paris 2012 says something which could harm the integrity of the process. They are quite ready to slap Cherie Blair on the wrists for, God forbid, jokingly claiming London is the cultural capital of the world and are happy to prevent their 117 high profile members from travelling to five of the world's greatest cities in the interests of fairness. But when something really serious happens...nothing.

It makes me wonder whether the rigour of the 2012 process is merely a facade for the world's press.

Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?  :angry:

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well, honestly, what other m.o. did you or the IOC should've expected when awarding the Games to a 'totalitarian' country -- not matter how sugar-coated?  Besides, it'll all probably be done in the name of 'redevelopment' -- oh, it'll have to be done sometime anyway... -- how did Paris get its beautiful boulevards if Napoleon III and Hausmann did not level whole neighborhoods, etc...?

Or... well, we would've done it for 2000 anyway, if you didn't give the Games to an already developed city...

Further, Beijing's doing the same with the 3 Gorges Dam.  And they will say: who are we (outsiders) to interfere in their internal affairs?  So, yes, it might be condemnable -- but who are outsiders to argue?  I mean they'll be doing the same for London's Olympic Stadium and the Willets Point area of Queens if the Games go there.  Except China has 1.3 billion people, so proportionately, it (the numbers) seem commensurate.  

So, people in other glass houses shouldn't throw stones...

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well, honestly, what other m.o. did you or the IOC should've expected when awarding the Games to a 'totalitarian' country -- not matter how sugar-coated?  Besides, it'll all probably be done in the name of 'redevelopment' -- oh, it'll have to be done sometime anyway... -- how did Paris get its beautiful boulevards if Napoleon III and Hausmann did not level whole neighborhoods, etc...?

Or... well, we would've done it for 2000 anyway, if you didn't give the Games to an already developed city...

Further, Beijing's doing the same with the 3 Gorges Dam.  And they will say: who are we (outsiders) to interfere in their internal affairs?  So, yes, it might be condemnable -- but who are outsiders to argue?  I mean they'll be doing the same for London's Olympic Stadium and the Willets Point area of Queens if the Games go there.  Except China has 1.3 billion people, so proportionately, it (the numbers) seem commensurate.  

So, people in other glass houses shouldn't throw stones...

London have offered a lot of compensation to those companies which will need to make way for 2012 and I'm sure NYC will be doing the same. I don't think London's or NYC's  plans can be compared in any way to Beijing's actions

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Yes, Beijing's recourse is reprehensible -- but what are you/we going to do about it?  They have many bodies; there is only so much land.  They presented a plan to the IOC which commitment they are trying to honor.  Maybe their concept of compensation is not the same as ours -- what are you going to do?  

I would say: let's give the '08 Games to Paris now, so little P is out of the way for 2012!!  :wwww:

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The 300,000 people who were evicted were actually given new homes, many still didn't want to move......and of course, this is still against human rights. Many killed themselves to make a point.
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well, honestly, what other m.o. did you or the IOC should've expected when awarding the Games to a 'totalitarian' country -- not matter how sugar-coated?  Besides, it'll all probably be done in the name of 'redevelopment' -- oh, it'll have to be done sometime anyway... -- how did Paris get its beautiful boulevards if Napoleon III and Hausmann did not level whole neighborhoods, etc...?

Or... well, we would've done it for 2000 anyway, if you didn't give the Games to an already developed city...

Further, Beijing's doing the same with the 3 Gorges Dam.  And they will say: who are we (outsiders) to interfere in their internal affairs?  So, yes, it might be condemnable -- but who are outsiders to argue?  I mean they'll be doing the same for London's Olympic Stadium and the Willets Point area of Queens if the Games go there.  Except China has 1.3 billion people, so proportionately, it (the numbers) seem commensurate.  

So, people in other glass houses shouldn't throw stones...

London have offered a lot of compensation to those companies which will need to make way for 2012 and I'm sure NYC will be doing the same. I don't think London's or NYC's  plans can be compared in any way to Beijing's actions

I agree....

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This has been "old news" for a while now. Activists involved in this matter will have a "field day" for sure. Just ask a former Olympic bid city for inquiries. Some of us know which one I'm talking about.
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This has been "old news" for a while now. Activists involved in this matter will have a "field day" for sure. Just ask a former Olympic bid city for inquiries. Some of us know which one I'm talking about.

Yup. I've already posted some time ago about how Toronto will pounce.  :D

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This has been "old news" for a while now. Activists involved in this matter will have a "field day" for sure. Just ask a former Olympic bid city for inquiries. Some of us know which one I'm talking about.

Yup. I've already posted some time ago about how Toronto will pounce.  :D

first off the IOC wouldn't have the nerve to ever take the Games away from a nation like China....

and as for them going to Toronto after that, I don't think it works like that.....

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This has been "old news" for a while now. Activists involved in this matter will have a "field day" for sure. Just ask a former Olympic bid city for inquiries. Some of us know which one I'm talking about.

Yup. I've already posted some time ago about how Toronto will pounce.  :D

first off the IOC wouldn't have the nerve to ever take the Games away from a nation like China....

and as for them going to Toronto after that, I don't think it works like that.....

I think he was just kidding........and there is no way Toronto get ready for the 2008 Games in 3 years. If the IOC does take away the Games from China (and which they should but it would never happen), they would be better off giving Athens a second chance in hosting the Games.

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I think he was just kidding........and there is no way Toronto get ready for the 2008 Games in 3 years. If the IOC does take away the Games from China (and which they should but it would never happen), they would be better off giving Athens a second chance in hosting the Games.

Forget about Toronto, when it comes to this "possible" scenario. Besides, I don't think the IOC would ever pull the plug on Beijing 2008, despite the potential intensity of grievances about China toward those Games. Now that insane amounts of money has been "set aside" for anything related to the Games, it will quite idiotic to pull a stunt like that now.

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