AN EVALUATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2014 LEGACY: PRE-GAMES REPORT

4. Sustainable

4.1 The Scottish Government Legacy Plan includes a 'sustainable' theme. This theme is about using the Games to demonstrate environmental responsibility and help communities live more sustainably. The following three intermediate outcomes are sought under the sustainable theme:

• Improve the physical and social environment of Glasgow (in particular the East End)
• Strengthen and empower communities in Scotland and the Commonwealth
• Demonstrate sustainable design and environmental responsibility

4.2 As set out in Chapter 2, the key evaluation question under this theme is:

• What effect have the Games had on the community in the area of Glasgow's East End most directly affected?

The Evidence: What do we know?

4.3 The evidence presented in this section is published in the fully referenced evidence review that accompanies this report.^[26]

4.4 Evidence from past major sporting events suggest that they can speed up and extend regeneration plans and thereby act as catalysts for accelerated socio-economic development where large capital investments are made. However, these need to be linked to the city's wider plans and objectives, rather than be delivered as stand-alone initiatives.

4.5 The Barcelona 1992 Olympics are often used as an example to demonstrate how a city can use a major event to widen urban regeneration. One of the key factors for Barcelona's success was that Games development plans were incorporated into existing regeneration strategies.

4.6 In contrast, Sydney initially struggled to find post-Game use for its venues and related transport network. Games legacy plans were developed later. A similar problem with transport designed for short-term use has been noted in relation to the Athens 2004 Olympics. In the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the promise of social housing - which played an important part in the bid - did not come to fruition.

4.7 In East Manchester, the 2002 Commonwealth Games was the focal point for local regeneration that resulted in a new regional retail centre, hotels, offices and a new housing development. Similarly, London 2012 appears to have contributed to accelerated and expanded regeneration in East London. A substantial amount of land has been remediated, disused buildings have been demolished, and pylons have been placed underground. This has made space for six permanent sport-venues, new housing, 100 hectares of green space, business space, and a new shopping-centre development.

4.8 The London 2012 meta-evaluation states that many of these changes would have occurred in absence of the Games, but that development was accelerated, and more integrated, as a result of the Games. It is still too early to know the extent to which this regeneration has been successful, although there are signs that change is taking place.

4.9 Evidence from previous events also highlight the need to engage communities in the regeneration process. Barcelona 1992 has been seen as an event which focussed on many small scale neighbourhood projects, such as the provision of public facilities to marginalised neighbourhoods, as well as big prestige projects. The budget for staging the actual event only made up a small part of the overall budget. Nevertheless, there has been some criticism that the process should have involved more participation from neighbourhoods.

4.10 Issues of displacement and widening inequality have been raised, in particular in relation to Beijing 2008. Use of vacant and derelict land and remediation of contaminated land, as was the case in Sydney 2000 and London 2012, provides a way of minimising the negative impact. Rather than forcing existing communities to relocate, using land that is disused can instead build on the local physical environment.

4.11 Beyond improvements to the environment, there is some evidence that major sporting events can increase community engagement and cohesion, at least in the run up to, and immediately after, the event. A survey of young people who had engaged in London 2012 related activities found that a large proportion felt more engaged with their community as a result.

4.12 In terms of using major sporting events to demonstrate sustainable design and practices, it is clear that environmental consciousness has been a part of hosting major sporting events for some time. An example of this was after the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics in France, when concerns were raised and bidders are now required to address sustainability issues. Indeed, major sporting events have been used to showcase innovative design and high standards in sustainable practices. In the case of the Commonwealth Games, the CGF require certain sustainability criteria to be met.

4.13 Sydney 2000 Olympics was the first large sporting event to put sustainability and high environmental standards at its core and these were made an important point in the bidding process. However, it transpired that many contractors found it difficult to adhere to these and the standards had to be lowered in order not to lose private sector buy-in. A decade later, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics aimed for an unprecedented level of commitment to sustainability. The Olympic Village was labelled the most energy efficient neighbourhood in the world, and the event was used to showcase cutting-edge technologies.

4.14 London 2012 implemented a range of sustainable policies and practices in terms of waste, water consumption, carbon emissions and energy efficiency. Other large-scale UK projects, such as Cross-rail and High Speed 2, now appear to be using key features of this sustainability approach. London also inspired the creation of ISO 20121, a new environmental standard management system which is now used by the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Rio 2016 Olympics.

4.15 Some evidence suggests that there are signs of a market change in sustainability ambitions as a result of the Games. Nevertheless, concerns have been raised about whether these standards are adopted within small and medium size public sector projects and whether there is enough impetus behind their promotion within business, sport, culture and event sectors.

Glasgow 2014 Legacy Investment and Programmes

4.16 A number of legacy programmes are underway at national level under the sustainable theme. These are set out in Figure 6.1. More detailed information on the programmes and their monitoring data is available on the Assessing Legacy 2014 website. Some programmes are being externally evaluated, or self-evaluated by the lead organisations. Evaluation data will be available for these programmes in our first legacy report in autumn 2015.

Figure 4.1. Sustainable Legacy Programmes

Programme	Where is programme taking place?	Who is delivering it?
Improve the physical and social environment of Glasgow, in particular the East End
Games Venues and Athletes' Village	Primarily within the Glasgow City Council boundary although there are satellite venues further afield.	multiple agencies including: the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, City of Edinburgh Council and North Lanarkshire Council
Clyde Gateway activity	Focus on Glasgow's East End and parts of neighbouring South Lanarkshire	Clyde Gateway URC
Transport Improvements	Glasgow and West Central Scotland	Transport Scotland with other partners, including Glasgow City Council, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and the Organising Committee.
Strengthen and empower communities in Scotland and the Commonwealth
Scottish Sport Relief Home and Away Programme	Throughout Scotland. The away element supports four projects comprising two in Malawi, one in South Africa and one in Uganda.	Sport Relief who work with 26 organisations to deliver the services
SPFL Supporting Scotland's Communities	Across Scotland	coordinated by the Scottish Professional Football League (via the SPFL Trust) and delivered locally
Legacy 2014 Pilotlight	across Scotland	Pilotlight Scotland
Street Soccer Scotland	Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen	Street Soccer Scotland
ASPIRE Dundee	Dundee	funded by Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Dundee City Council and delivered in partnership with a number of local partners
SCDC Games Legacy Community Programme	across Scotland	Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC)
SFA and Malawi FA	Kaponda, Malawi	SFA and the Malawi Football Association
Commonwealth Saltire Professional Fellowships	across Scotland with benefits to other commonwealth countries	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, in partnership with the host universities
Demonstrate sustainable design and environmental responsibility
Legacy 2014 Commonwealth Woodlands and Cuningar Loop Riverside Woodland Park	across 13 woodlands in Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire	Forestry Commission Scotland, Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, Cassiltoun Housing Association and Paths for All, with support from the Woodland Trust and the Commonwealth Forestry Association.
Legacy 2014 Sustainability Hub	The Lighthouse, Glasgow	Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) and partners
Sustainable event management	Games venues in Glasgow and satellite venues	Glasgow 2014 and partners

Improve the physical and social environment of Glasgow, in particular the East End

4.17 Our evaluation question for the sustainable theme asks about the effect that the Games are having on the community in the Glasgow's East End. There are a number of investments and programmes underway or complete to affect change in the area. The construction of venues, the Athletes' Village, the wider Clyde Gateway regeneration activity and other public realm and transport improvements are all playing their part. Additional funding provided to Clyde Gateway between 2012 and 2014 has helped ensure that Games-related projects are complete.

4.18 GCC has led on a programme of major capital projects for the venues and the Athletes' Village. Venues newly built or refurbished in the East End of Glasgow include the Emirates Arena, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Hockey Centre and Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

4.19 Alongside these Games-specific developments, Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company is delivering a wider regeneration programme across their area^[27]. This regeneration activity has seen almost 21,000 square feet of environmentally friendly business space created, 102 hectares of land remediated or decontaminated and £28 million of private sector investment attracted to the area.^[28]

4.20 Eight of their 14 Games-related construction projects have been completed to date. Clyde Gateway is also in the process of creating a new £5 million urban forest at Cuningar Loop on the banks of the river directly opposite the Athletes' Village with two new pedestrian bridges across the River Clyde. Clyde Gateway has been engaging with local residents throughout this process.

4.21 Transport improvements involve around £1 billion of Games-related road and rail transport infrastructure projects. In the East End, these include the M74 which was completed in June 2011, on time and under budget. The Dalmarnock Railway Station has re-opened after refurbishment.

4.22 There are also a range of Games investments elsewhere in Glasgow. These include refurbished or newly built venues including the Scotstoun Stadium, Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre, Cathkin Braes Mountain Biking Circuit, and Scotstoun Leisure Centre. The newly-constructed venues are now complete and open for local community, schools, sport clubs and major event use.

Strengthen and empower communities

4.23 In addition to the changes happening in the East End area of Glasgow, there are a range of programmes in place that aim to strengthen and empower communities across Scotland. In addition, some programmes are targeted at communities in other Commonwealth countries.

4.24 Street Soccer Scotland and The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) are using football to engage disadvantaged groups who have experienced homelessness, mental health problems, addictions, and unemployment.

4.25 The 'Home' element of the Scottish Sport Relief Home and Away Programme is also aiming to support disadvantaged groups, including those with mental health problems, older people and women and children affected by domestic abuse. The 'away' element of provides support to communities across the Commonwealth that are living in slum conditions, facing malnutrition and barriers in accessing mainstream education.

4.26 Empowering disadvantaged groups is also the aim of the Aspire Dundee legacy programme. Using local expertise, it uses a range of cultural activities - including dance, drama and music - as a way of tackling deprivation in disadvantaged schools in Dundee.

4.27 There are also some legacy programmes that aim to strengthen and empower local community organisations. Legacy 2014 Pilotlight matches teams of senior business people with the directors of 12 small and medium-sized charities and social enterprises. The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) also aimed to help organisations across Scotland to use the Games as a catalyst for building on their work to develop activities and projects.

4.28 The Scottish Football Association (SFA) and the Malawi Football Association's joint collaboration aims to support on-going knowledge and skill transfer between the two nations. The programme sets out to develop infrastructure, coaching and referee skills, provide training, equipment and resources.

4.29 Knowledge transfer is also the theme of the Commonwealth Saltire Professional Fellowships programmes which focuses on climate change and environmental issues. In Scotland, host universities offer the cohort of fellows from the Commonwealth an intensive 1-3 month long programme of activities and learning.

Demonstrate sustainable design and environmental responsibility

4.30 New or improved technological methods and materials are being used in the development of the Athletes' Village and other Games venues to provide practical exemplars for future developments. For example, the homes from the Athletes' Village will be low rise, with energy efficiency features which should result in reduced energy bills and carbon emissions. Furthermore, the Combined Heat and Power Energy Centre at the Athletes' Village will ultimately provide hot water to the residential community and care home, as well as the Emirates Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

4.31 Glasgow 2014 is developing environmental management plans for the venues to minimise the environmental impact of the Games. The environmental management system standard ISO 20121 is being used. This is designed to help events organisations to minimise and recycle waste, to ensure sustainability is embedded within the procurement process and used in the development of sustainable transport plans.

4.32 To ensure the specialist knowledge is retained post-Games, the Glasgow 2014 is working closely with Zero Waste Scotland, GCC, and CGF to transfer knowledge to local government and future host cities. In addition, Resource Efficient Scotland is creating an Sustainable Events Guide using learning from major events throughout 2014, including the Commonwealth Games. This guide will be distributed to event organisers and local authorities throughout Scotland, promoting environmental best practice.

4.33 Sustainable design does not only refer to Games-specific infrastructure but also to design of the local environment. For example, the Cuningar Loop Riverside Woodland Park, situated within the Clyde Gateway regeneration area at Rutherglen, is a newly constructed woodland park. It will incorporate a range of paths and recreational areas, and there will be a range of outdoor activities. There are also another 13 woodlands in and around Glasgow within the Clyde Valley, which provide a range of activities.

4.34 These, and other developments, will be showcased at an exhibition entitled 'Green 2014: The Environmental Legacy of the XX Commonwealth Games' at the Lighthouse Exhibition Centre in Glasgow. This exhibition aims which aims to tell the sustainability story of the Games and its legacy. This exhibition opened recently and will run until the end of September 2014.

What's the current position? Key data and trends since baseline

4.35 This section focuses on addressing the evaluation question for sustainable 'What effect have the Games had on the community in the area of Glasgow's East End most directly affected?'. It draws on findings from the accompanying evidence review, data from the GoWell East longitudinal community study^[29] and the findings of a prospective assessment of the potential impacts of the Games in the East End of Glasgow published by the GoWell Team^[30]. The data from the GoWell East baseline survey was collected in 2012^[31].

4.36 Overall, the evidence suggests we might expect the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to have an impact on the physical and social environment in the area of the East End of Glasgow where much of the Games investment - and crucially - the longer-term regeneration effort has occurred.

4.37 The Games investment in Glasgow is embedded into broader regeneration strategies. But, the scale and pace differs from other recent regeneration in Glasgow, particularly in regard to land and transport investment, and in efforts to directly link employers to the local labour market^[32]. The GoWell East study will be looking at how the East End study area compares with other GoWell areas across Glasgow at a later stage. This will help us assess the 'additionality' of the Games.

4.38 As discussed in Chapter 3, the economic modelling indicates that the £100 million spending in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire by Clyde Gateway URC to help create a regenerated, well-designed and sustainable community in the East End of Glasgow over the six year to the Games is estimated to support, on average, around 200 jobs, and contribute £10 million to Scotland's GVA in each year.

4.39 In the East End of Glasgow changes have already been observed in levels of remediated land and creation of green space and woodlands. The total area of derelict and vacant land has decreased by 29% (from 118 hectares to 84 hectares) between 2008 and 2012. The comparable figure for Glasgow as a whole is 6%. The reduction in vacant and derelict land is reflected in a large increase in the amount of land brought back into use.

4.40 The latest data show that total area of greenspace in the East End is 178 hectares, with the largest areas being private gardens or grounds (including schools) comprising 56 hectares and public parks and gardens comprising 48 hectares. The nearby Cuningar Loop covers 26 hectares of greenspace, of which the Cuningar Loop Riverside Woodland Park will comprise 15 hectares. The park will incorporate a range of paths and recreational areas, including an events hub.

4.41 When GoWell East respondents were asked how they rate the quality of parks and green spaces in or near their local area in 2012, 75% gave them a positive rating ('very good' or 'fairly good'), with 46% saying 'very good'. Almost half (47%) of the respondents to the GoWell East survey said they visit the outdoors once per week or more, which is similar to Scotland as a whole (46%)^[33].

4.42 In 2012, a total of 44% of GoWell East respondents said their neighbourhood had improved over the last three years. This compares favourably with other deprived areas in Scotland as well as with Scotland as a whole (see Figure 4.2). In Scotland, a large majority consider their areas to have stayed the same. In the 20% most deprived areas across Scotland, a similar proportion think their areas has got better compared to those that think it has got worse, with the largest number consider their area neither to be better nor worse. Thus, East End residents appear to perceive clear improvements in their area since 2008.

Figure 4.2: Perceptions of neighbourhood improvement by proportion of people 2012

4.43 There is limited evidence from previous major sporting events on their potential role in strengthening and empowering communities. So, notably there is evidence of effective community engagement in the East End. In 2012, more than a third of respondents in the GoWell East baseline survey agree that they can influence decisions in the local area, higher than in other similarly deprived regeneration areas (see figure 4.2, below). Engagement with the Games is also high in the area, with over three quarters (76%) supportive of the Games.

Figure 4.3: Perception of being able to influence decisions in their local area 2012

4.44 In addition to infrastructure improvements, there are a range of other legacy programmes underway in the East End that cut across our national themes. These include employability programmes, cultural programming and physical activity interventions. GoWell East will examine changes in physical activity and wellbeing, experience and outcomes of employment, learning and volunteering and engagement with legacy programmes as it progresses.

4.45 For example, baseline data from Sweep 1 indicate the GoWell East cohort is more active than might be expected, given known patterns of participation in physical activity and area deprivation. 58% of the cohort participated in at least 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA) over the course of a week. This compares to 62% of the Scottish population. Further, sports participation specifically was higher amongst the East End cohort than the national Scotland population level: 58% compared to 54%. There is also evidence from GoWell East of residents' awareness and intention to use the enhanced sports infrastructure in their area that is related to the Games. 41% of the cohort said they intend to use new or improved sports facilities linked to the Commenwealth Games.

4.46 Active travel is notably higher in the area than in Scotland, with a third of respondents using active modes to travel to work or college, compared to a Scotland figure of 15%. This is likely to be related to the proximity to Glasgow's City Centre, and possibly to lower levels of car ownership in the East End.

4.47 The GoWell East study will also include looking at ecological data alongside survey data. This will, for example, include looking at actual crime statistics, data on the business and retail environment, schools, and the physical environment. Tracking this data over time will provide a fuller picture of how the six local communities are changing over time. (See map in Chapter 2).

4.48 As discussed earlier, there is also a range of programmes and activities happening across Scotland and in targeted communities in the Commonwealth. These programmes also aim to support disadvantaged communities. It is too early to make any assessment of their effectiveness. Monitoring and evaluation data from these programmes will become available over the next year.

Prospective Assessment and Summary: what does the evidence suggest?

4.49 Overall, evidence from past major events suggest that hosting major sporting events can speed up and extend regeneration plans, acting as catalysts for socio-economic development. However, the evidence also highlights that Games-related activity needs to be embedded into long-term regeneration plans and have community engagement at its heart.

4.50 The investments for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in the East End of Glasgow are integrated into the wider regeneration effort. Some of the early data from the GoWell East study is promising, particularly in terms of respondents views on neighbourhood improvement and community influence.

4.51 A prospective assessment for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games is presented in the final chapter.