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Saturday 28 July 2012

Some summer inspiration

Two videos below that may get you thinking about development in a new way or may just provide some summer inspiration:



Sunday 22 July 2012

Storify on Beijing Floods

Some images and news sources to have a look at if you're interested in the flooding in Beijing this weekend.

Friday 6 July 2012

Evaluation of the Olympic Games

Here is a year 9 pupil's evaluation of the Olympic Games. Well done C.Bloxham for your excellent work:


There are 4 main reasons why the Olympic Games are good, and there are 2 reasons why the Olympic Games are bad. The reasons why they are good are: jobs, urban regeneration, transport improvements and tourism. The bad reasons are: cost and overtaking of the TV.
One of the main reasons why the Olympic Games are happening in the East-end of London is for urban regeneration; this is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. This is good for London and Britain, because in these areas there are higher crime rates, and lower life expectancy. Bringing up the East-end of London to match the West-end is bringing London up to be a strong capital. It would also make London a better place to visit, like New York.
Transport has made a massive improvement, helping make London’s travel more efficient with better quality. These improvements include: channel tunnel shuttle link from Stratford to Kings Cross, 45% capacity of Jubilee line, extensions to the DLR and £1bn improvement to London East line. These improvements are not only good for the games, but they are also a long term improvement for the future as well.
Another reason why the Olympic Games are good is the tourism. Because of the Olympic Games London has grown in profile. People would know about London more that before. The tourism will be higher during and after the Olympic Games than before it. This would lead to an increase of money and the Olympic organising committee hope that it would pay back any loss that they have conceded
My final reason why the Olympics are good is because of the Jobs. This point is mainly good but it is also quite bad. With the building and the working of the Olympic Games, jobs are produced, which is great for the unemployed people, although it is only a temporary job, and they will soon be unemployed again.
My first reason why it is bad is because of the cost. It is predicted that the total cost of staging the Games will be £2.375bn. This causes a rise in our taxes. This causes people who were originally not bothered about the Olympics to really not like it, and could cause homelessness to people who couldn’t even afford it before. Although they think that they will be able to gain back the money by tourism, I think it is highly unlikely.
Also my final reason for the Olympics being a bad reason is the taking over of the T.V. Although this may not seem important, it makes people not like the Olympics, and people who may watch a programme, may not want the programme to be cut for the Olympics.
All of these reasons are valid, and either way could make a good argument. But I think the Olympics are good because all the reasons for the Olympic Games are more environmental and the reasons against are more personal.

For my research I used this website: http://olympics.pthimon.co.uk/index2.htm