The Olympics
奥林匹克
The London model
伦敦模式
The city is trying to pull off a mightily ambitious games
一场盛典规模宏大，一座城市竭力呈现
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WHEN London unexpectedly beat Paris in the competition to hold the 2012 Olympic games, crowds cheered, the stock market soared and politicians congratulated themselves. But Britain is a nation of self-deprecating cynics. Even on the day of the successful bid in 2005, some commentators were carping about the cost of the games and the likelihood of disruption and transport problems. A rather good BBC sitcom, “Twenty Twelve”, pokes fun at bureaucratic absurdities and snafus: in the final episode, aired on July 24th, the Olympic Deliverance Commission realises that the opening ceremony’s fireworks will trigger the surface-to-air missiles that guard the site. The solution? Virtual fireworks.
伦敦在与巴黎争夺2012年奥运会举办权时意外胜出，一时间举国沸腾，股市暴涨，官员们笑逐颜开。但是英国人素来谦谦自恭，悲天悯人。05年申奥成功的消息一出，就有评论员不厌其烦地拿奥运会开支和潜在的骚乱以及交通问题说事。英国的官僚主义言行荒谬，还时常搅局，英国广播公司（BBC）便借旗下的优质情景喜剧《二〇一二》暗自讽刺。在7月24日播出的大结局中，奥林匹克救助委员会发现即将在开幕式上点燃的烟花会引爆事先武装的地对空导弹。情况不妙，只有靠电子烟花救场了。
The recurring question is whether the games will come off. The answer is that, barring a non-humorous calamity, they will. The 1996 Atlanta games was a logistical and security nightmare, yet the city staged a showcase of extraordinary human endeavour. At each games someone runs faster, jumps higher or rows or cycles harder than anyone has ever done before. Once the athletes are on the field, the Olympics more-or-less runs itself. (Though North Korean footballers were greeted with the South’s flag in an early match.)
能否成功举办一届奥运会早已是老生常谈。只要恶性事件不发生，就都能算是成功的。后勤与安全的失力是96年亚特兰大奥运会挥之不去的梦魇，尽管在本届奥运会上运动员们的拼搏史无前例。不论跑步、跳高，还是划艇、自行车，每场比赛都有选手打破记录，创造佳绩。只要运动员们到位就绪，不管怎样，奥运会自己就能运转起来。（在提前举行的足球比赛中，朝鲜运动员因“太极旗事件”而罢赛算是一个例外。）
London has nevertheless set itself a more severe challenge than almost any other host. Sydney, which held the games in 2000, staged many events on one suburban site; its population was half of London’s now. In Beijing, four years ago, the government commanded its citizens to stop driving or firing up factories; it destroyed houses for highways and built the world’s largest airport terminal with no debate. Londoners have repeatedly been told to stay at home, but most will probably carry on regardless. Many sporting venues are in the heart of the city as well as dispersed around it: the stands that will seat beach volleyball spectators loom above the garden of the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street.
与往届承办国相比，伦敦面临着更为艰巨的挑战。2000年悉尼奥运会，一所郊外体育场便能举办很多赛事，悉尼总人口只占伦敦目前人口数的1/2。四年前的北京，政府曾下令，奥运期间市民禁止驾车，工厂也必须暂停生产；政府还拆毁了很多住房用来修建高速公路，且在毫无争议的情况下建造了世界上最大的航站楼。伦敦政府也一再提醒市民不要出行，但大多数人很可能置若罔闻。许多比赛场地都分布在市中心及毗邻地区，从首相宅邸（唐宁街10号）的花园里就能隐约看见沙滩排球赛场的观众席。
Game on
比赛开始
Using existing arenas such as Lord’s cricket ground (for archery) and Wimbledon (for tennis) was supposed to reduce the bill for the London games. It also makes the project complicated and disruptive. An unprecedented share of games-goers will travel to events by public transport, a system already bulging with local passengers. So-called “Zil lanes”, 30 miles of roadway reserved for Olympic athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists, have provoked protests and the occasional delay. Any stumble in London’s “public-transport games” will quickly be seized upon.
伦敦已有的体育场可以帮助实现节流，例如罗德板球场（用于射箭比赛），还有温布尔顿（网球赛场）。但这也容易催生困扰与混乱。大批外地观赛者的蜂拥而至，势必会使原先就拥挤的公共交通更加人满为患。由此应运而生的“吉尔线”（即奥运专线，长约30英里，专门供奥运选手，官员，赞助商以及记者的车辆通行使用）却引发了抗议，致使伦敦交通几近瘫痪。任何有关“公共交通事业博弈”的小举动都会被媒体迅速捕捉，进而大肆渲染和炒作。
The fact that transport remains such a big question hints at how much else has been achieved, and how smoothly. Seven years on from the bid, one of the largest post-war public works projects has been delivered. A shabby part of east London has been prettified: the site of the main Olympic Park was until recently rough scrubland containing piles of rotting fridges and a dirty river. The army and police have stepped in to fill a gap left by G4S, a contractor which failed to provide enough security staff. Potholes have been filled and transport links upgraded and extended. The capital is adorned with pink signs directing spectators to events, as well as giant union flags handily recycled from the queen’s Jubilee.
交通问题如同烫手山芋，实际上反映出人们对其他领域获得的改善以及执行力的关注。申奥成功至今，伦敦用七年的时间完成了同属战后最大的公共工程项目的建造。东伦敦区原本破破烂烂的一块区域如今焕然一新：就在前不久，奥运会主会场还是一片杂草丛生，到处堆放着腐烂的生活垃圾，一条臭河横贯其中。军队和警察收拾好了国际保安公司（G4S）没能提供足够数量安保人员的烂摊子。道路不再坑洼不平，交通线也得到了改善和扩展。如今，伦敦市里随处可见指引观赛的粉红色标牌以及女王60周年庆典使用过的大面国旗。
All this comes at a price—since 1960 every games has overshot its budget. The Olympic Delivery Authority boasts that it has brought the games in under its allotted ￡9.3 billion ($14.4 billion), yet it did so only because the original budget was nearly quadrupled in 2007. As with other Olympics, it is hard to quantify the opportunity cost of transport schemes that would not otherwise have been built, or a fancy velodrome that will struggle to recoup its original investment.
这些都得花大价钱——自1960年开始，没有哪届奥运会的预算不超支。英国政府为奥运会拨款93亿英镑（144亿美元）。事实上，截止07年，开支就已经超出了4倍之多，怪不得英国奥林匹克交付局要吹嘘自己只赚不赔呢。和历届奥运会一样，人们很难量化许多设施的机会成本，例如新修建的交通体系，又或是努力收回成本的豪华赛车场。
And what comes after is a running problem. Each host city promises a legacy; each is left with at least some large, empty, costly structures. The hope is that hosting the games will improve a city’s, and a country’s, image. Barcelona, which hosted the games in 1992, and Beijing used the Olympics to launch their own ambitions on the world stage. Since London is already the most visited city in Europe and a financial and business centre, its aims are different. And they have evolved.
“后奥运”也是历久弥新的问题。所有的东道主都承诺会永远留下奥运遗产。或多或少每一个都保留着一些空荡荡，庞大且造价不菲的奥运建筑。大家都希望奥运会的举办能给城市和国家增光。巴塞罗那（92年奥运会）和北京（08年奥运会）都是借助奥运会这个平台向世人展现自己的雄心壮志的。已然是欧洲接待游客数量最多的城市，伦敦这个全球经济商业中心举办奥运会的目的则大相径庭。可谓是有所突破。
London’s bid highlighted the inspirational bequest to a generation of British youngsters. The capital is filled with injunctions to “Be part of it” and “Inspire a generation”, although there are few signs that the nation is becoming fitter or more sporty, as had been hoped. Organisers also pledged to regenerate the poor East End of London with jobs and homes. The shopping is certainly better now, thanks to the arrival of a swanky new retail centre. But the redevelopment of the Olympic Park is unlikely to enrich the whole area. And the park’s future remains uncertain. Plans for a technology cluster rely on attracting small, young firms that are hard to corral; proposals for new housing are still under way. Transport may help east London more than anything else: Stratford is now even better connected.
伦敦在竞选时强调奥运会将成为英国激励年轻一代的馈赠。尽管政府“融为一体”，“激励一代人”的口号打得响亮，人尽皆知，可现实的情况却不如人意。英国人依旧不够健康，也很少参加体育锻炼。奥运会的筹办者承诺将振兴贫穷的东伦敦区，为其提供更多的就业机会和住房。新进驻的一家高级零售商业中心极大地改善了该区的购物现状。可奥林匹克公园想要凤凰涅槃，重振雄风却并非易事。公园的前景令人堪忧。小型的新兴公司难以集中形成技术集群，新的住房计划也遥遥无期。也许只有解决交通问题才能实现东伦敦区的发展：斯特拉特福德（莎士比亚故乡，位于英格兰乡村中心区）现在不是挺便利的嘛。
Meanwhile the economy has become more worrisome. The Britain that was awarded the games was rich and confident. The current one is ailing and needy. As The Economist went to press, the prime minister was preparing to chivvy a conference of business folk to work harder at exporting beyond sickly Europe to faster-growing emerging markets. The Olympics has turned from a celebration of a global city to a marketing pitch from an economy desperate for growth. Ludicrously expensive, administratively Byzantine and freighted with expectations, it nevertheless promises to be a popular party.
与此同时，伦敦的经济也极为窘迫。当初拿下奥运会举办权时，伦敦财力雄厚，自信满满，然而今非昔比，不仅财力上捉襟见肘，士气也削减了大半。本刊出版时，英国首相正急急忙忙召集商业界人士，就欧洲市场一片疲态，如何扩大对快速发展的新兴市场的出口展开讨论。一场盛大的奥林匹克庆典却变成了这座全球化大都市急于发展经济的营销策略了。耗资巨大，监管繁琐刻板，再加上世人的无限期待，这还是一场能够成为全球欢庆的奥运庆典。 |
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