British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe has "urged cities to continue to seek hosting rights for major sporting events as a way to achieve generational benefits and fast-forward social and economic reform," according to Shane Rodgers of THE AUSTRALIAN. Speaking at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Brisbane, Coe said that opponents of hosting big events, such as an Olympic Games, "often failed to consider the long-term benefits." He said that London had attracted £14B ($21.85B) in investment in three years as a result of hosting the Games. The stadium project in East London "had also helped lift the area out of poverty and provided jobs for a many long-term unemployed." Coe: "(Based on) the profound changes in East London, I would say that was not
a cost but an investment that had to be made. That was done
in seven years when probably the politics of capital expenditure would
have taken 50 years to achieve that." The Asia Pacific Cities Summit attracted 95 mayors and deputy mayors representing 135 cities. Coe said that when assessing the "value of major games, there was often
confusion between the operating budget and the infrastructure spending."
In London's case, "most of the operating budget was raised through the
private sector and infrastructure spending provided long-term economic
benefits for the city." Coe said, "It (the Games) brought the city together in a way that it has never come together in my lifetime" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/7).
