The Olympic Park (based in Lower Lea Valley) will be set within 1500 landscaped acres to form one of Europe’s largest areas of urban parkland stretching from Hackney Marshes to the Thames. 

The Games will form part of a programme of regeneration creating thousands of new businesses, jobs and homes. The Olympic Village will be converted into community housing with good quality new homes, supported by new schools, health and community facilities. 

Six major sports facilities will be built, including a state-of-the-art stadium, an aquatics centre, a velodrome and BMX track. All venues will be reconfigured for residential use including health centres and swimming pools, leaving a legacy of professional sporting venues for local people after 2012. The rest of the UK will also benefit from portable sporting venues bringing the Games legacy to the whole country.

It is likely that the main stadium will be turned into a national sports medicine centre, providing research and expertise on sports injuries. The centre will cater for amateur and professional athletes as well as local community sport groups. 

Encouraging people to think about their own health in terms of exercise and sport will be central to getting Britain fitter. Enthusiasm for the Games, twinned with the measures announced in the recent Public Health White Paper will play a large part in helping London and the UK embrace a positive approach to healthy living, improving the quality of life for millions of people.