Tokyo's 2016 Olympics bid offers blueprint for mega-cities

Business Times 5 Aug 08;

(BEIJING) Tokyo will offer a blueprint for the regeneration of the world's mega-cities for the 21st century if it is successful in its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Japanese officials said yesterday.

The Japanese capital, which was the first Asian city to host the games in 1964, is up against Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Chicago in the race to stage the Summer Games after London 2012.

Bid chief executive Ichiro Kono, in China to study this month's Beijing Games and lobby International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, said Japan was at the cutting edge of the resolution of many of the problems facing large cities.

'We will provide tangible solutions to the 21st century challenges of urbanisation, mature economies, ageing populations and how to safeguard and improve the environment,' he said.

'We will be very happy if we can possibly deliver a model for the mega-cities which wish to host mega events,' he added.

One of the weaknesses of the Tokyo bid was considered to be the low level of support among locals but Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japan Olympic Committee, said that was changing.

'Two recent independent surveys show that 70 percent of Japanese - close to 100 million people - already support our bid and this figure is rising all the time,' he said.

The Tokyo bid promises to deliver on many of the themes the IOC are keen to encourage for future Olympics such as increased participation in sport for the young, legacy, environmental awareness and compactness of venues.

'The 2016 Games will be a catalyst for our greatest ever drive for sports participation, especially at both ends of the age spectrum. . . (and) result in the world's greatest metropolitan makeover,' said Mr Kono.

Rules over IOC members visiting applicant cities were tightened after the bribery scandal around Salt Lake City's bid for the 2002 Winter Games so this week is one of very few chances to lobby the people who will decide the 2016 hosts next year.

Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will be here later this week to back Tokyo but the other committees will also wheel out big- name supporters for their own campaigns, with US President George W Bush expected to speak up for Chicago.

'The games coming to China is a remarkable step in the history of the Olympic movement,' Mr Kono said. 'We firmly believe Tokyo in 2016 would allow the Olympics to make another step forward.' - Reuters