The Olympic Village after the Olympics

What happens to the Olympic Village after the Olympics?

I hadn’t thought much about it until 2014, when I stayed at a hotel in London in the former Olympic Village. This article by ArchDaily gives some examples of other Olympic hosts and what they did with their villages. Some are successes, some are less so. The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona were a success and spurred urban renewal in the region. London did the same thing by putting their Olympic village in an underdeveloped area.

The Olympic Villages require housing, infrastructure, transportation, etc. for about 16,000 athletes and staff. Not to mention all the people who travel to watch the games (normally). That’s a lot of money to develop so it makes sense to have a plan on how to use the facilities for a long time after the games. In 1996, in Atlanta, the housing was built on a college campus so after the games it could become student housing. Sydney, in 2000, designed and developed a full suburb which would become the athlete’s housing. After the games, it was converted into a plain ol’ residential suburb. Pretty cool! It makes me wonder what will become of Toyko’s Olympic Village in the future. Any guesses?

-Jess