Economic Development

An Illustration of Vancouver's Green Economy Goals.

http://www.biostruct.ca/green-industrial-land

Green Economy

As part of its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, Vancouver hopes to develop a Green Economy. Their main goals are to double the number of green jobs over 2010 levels by 2020 and double the number of companies that are actively engaged in greening their operations over 2011 levels by 2020. [1] The green economy consists of jobs in clean technology and products, green building design and construction, green transportation, local food, recycling and composting, sustainability consulting and education, and much more. These jobs can be found in many sectors throughout the city. There are many reasons to go green: in addition to being more environmentally friendly, green businesses may be more efficient and save money in the process.

Case Study: 2010 Winter Olympics
Overview

In 2003, Vancouver was elected to host the 21st Olympic Winter Games in 2010. The Games took place from February 12-28, 2010. According to Harry Hiller and Richard Wanner of the University of Calgary, the Olympics is a mega-event with influential global force that receives continuous public attention and discussion. [2] Their sociological study proved that the Olympics has an impact on the surrounding urban area as residents’ attitudes towards the Games became more favorable with time. This is most likely the result of the economic benefit the Olympics brings to their local economy – mainly through tourism and a greater demand for local goods. According to Angela Piccini, the International Olympic Committee reported that the 2010 Games coverage reached 1.8 billion viewers globally and the official Vancouver 2010 website reached almost 75 million visitors who viewed 1.2 billion pages of content and watched 38 million hours of online video during the sixteen-day Games. [3]

A Ceremony in the 2010 Winter Olympics

http://www.christophermorris.com/#/olympics/Vancouver%202010/1/

Economic Impact

Hosting the Olympics is difficult and expensive, but if well planned, can spur great economic and regional development in a short span of time. According to the field hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the United States Senate on August 5, 2005, it was revealed that the 2010 Winter Olympics would result in major infrastructure projects. These included the Vancouver Convention Center Expansion Project (estimated cost of $565 million), a new Rapid Transit Line ($1.7 billion), expansion of Vancouver International Airport ($1.4 billion), and construction of major venues for major sporting events. [4] Regarding tourism, the Olympics was estimated to draw approximately 1.1 million additional visitors to the British Columbia province between the years 2008-2012, resulting in approximately $1.5 billion incremental spending and $3.3 billion incremental GDP.

It is not common for Olympics to have such “a lasting and positive impact” as they did on Vancouver. Because of smart planning, Vancouver is still benefitting from being an Olympic host city. [5] As a result of the Games, numerous recreational and high performance sport programs have been created, complexes used during the Games are now open to and used by the local community, 2,500 full-time jobs were created, and the transportation infrastructure is much improved. Specifically, TransLink, the agency in charge of Vancouver’s transit, included 48 new SkyTrain cars, a new SeaBus, and 180 diesel-electric hybrid buses as part of their plan. A new Canada Line was built before the Games, but now after they are over, it is still successfully transporting travelers across Vancouver.

2010 Olympics Venues

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/02/three-years-later-a-reflection-on-the-vancouver-2010-olympic-games/

New Developments

According to the official website of the Olympics, the venues in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games stretched over 120 kilometers, from Richmond, through downtown, and north to Whistler. [6] The city planned to make use of existing facilities and build new ones in providing the best conditions for athletes and also a welcoming environment for spectators that would make lasting memories.

Many people do not understand the purpose of spending billions to build new venues for a two to three week event, which will then be abandoned and left empty afterward. Most of the time this backlash is from local residents, who were not contacted before or during the planning and bidding process. However, as Hiller and Wanner showed in their study, these negative feelings eventually go away as they begin to see the many upsides and benefits of hosting the Games.

References

1. City of Vancouver. Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. Retrieved from http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/Greenest-city-action-plan.pdf.
2. Hiller, H.H., and Wanner, R.A. (2011). Public Opinion in Host Olympic Cities: The Case of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Sociology, 45(5), 883-899. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42857463.pdf.
3. Piccini, A. (2012, April 19). Materialities, Moving Images, and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. World Archaeology, 44(2), 291-305. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00438243.2012.669645.
4. The Economic Impact of the 2010 Vancouver, Canada, Winter Olympics on Oregon and the Pacific Northwest: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Trade, Tourism, and Economic Development of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the United States Senate. 109th Congress. 1. (2005, August 5). Retrieved from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109shrg28349/pdf/CHRG-109shrg28349.pdf.
5. Olympic.org – Official Website of the Olympic Movement. Olympic Games Legacy – Vancouver 2010 Legacy Lives On. Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/news/vancouver-2010-legacy-lives-on/167164.
6. Olympic.org – Official Website of the Olympic Movement. Vancouver 2010. Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/vancouver-2010-winter-olympics.