ICTC Society 2008 Conference & Trade Exhibition
The International Cities, Town Centres & Communities Society Inc (ICTC) 2008 Conference and Trade Exhibition will be held at Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia, from Tuesday 7th October to Friday 10th October 2008
About Sydney Olympic Park
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games have been widely acknowledged as ‘the best Games ever’. In the seven years since the Games, Sydney Olympic Park has continued to provide a magnificent asset to the people of NSW and Australia, offering more than 425 hectares of picturesque parklands, state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class sporting facilities. Since 2002 the Park has witnessed strong and consistent growth in private investment, visitation and events.
The Future - Building a New Town
Sydney Olympic Park Authority has a 20 year plan "Vision 2025", that involves an evolutionary process of urban change - a bold and exciting vision that will create the criticial mass of residents, workers, students and visitors required to establish a vibrant and economically sustainable township.
The next five years will be the "growth phase" at Sydney Olympic Park, in which a significant level of new development will take place across all sectors including residential, retail, office, health, education, food and beverage, and hotels. By 2025 it is anticipated that the Park will support a residential population of up to 15,000 and a daily population of up to 15,000 workers and students.
The Authority has already generated land sales valued in excess of $100 million, including securing an agreement with Australia's largest hotel group, Accor, to establish a new five-star hotel at the Park. The new hotel follows recent developments at the Park, which will see nearly $200 million spent on new investment in the precinct. These include a new state-of-the-art building for the NSW Institute of Sport and a 23,000m2 building for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which will relocate some 1,400 staff to the Park in 2007.
The Authority will continue to facilitate land and property sales and private sector investment in the Park, resulting in increased economic and social returns for the NSW Government.
These future developments will play a significant role in the promotion of sustainable urban development outcomes, the creation of a healthy community and the generation of social, environmental and economic returns on investment in Sydney Olympic Park.
The development of a new township at Sydney Olympic Park is now under way. We are at the cusp of a very exciting process of urban transformation that will create a special Park that retains its Olympic heritage whilst making a unique place for people to live, work, learn and enjoy the amazing leisure assets available at the Park.
Community Use
Sydney Olympic Park plays host to an increasing number of local, national and international visitors each year. More than 8 million people visited the Park during 2006, almost double the number of visitors hosted during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
It is not only during major sporting and entertainment events that people choose to visit Sydney Olympic Park. In 2006 more than 1.8 million people visited the Parklands to participate in recreational activities such as cycling, walking, picnicking and to attend community events.
The success of the Park's nine major venues in attracting significant sporting and entertainment events continues to grow. For example in 2005 Acer Arena was recognised as the second most successful indoor entertainment arena in the world after Madison Square Gardens (in gross ticket revenue).
The Park provides a unique environment for the Sydney community offering events such as Australia Day Citizenship Ceremonies and major Cultural Festivals, through to the "Kids in the Park" school holiday program and "Music by Moonlight" concert series. These events and activities encourage local community attendance and participation and are a high priority for the Park.
Major Events
The Park also continues to attract major international events, recently announcing it will host the Opening Mass and Welcome Concert for the 2008 World Youth Day which is expected to attract more than 200,000 people to the Park.
Major upcoming sporting events include the 2006 Maccabi Australia International Games, 2007 Medibank International (Tennis), 2007 Australian Youth Olympic Festival, 2008 Australian Swimming Championships, 2009 World Masters Games (attracting 20,000 competitors) and the 2010 World Conference on Women in Sport.
In addition, the Park continues to host Sydney's premier entertainment events including Pavarotti, Neil Diamond and Rod Stewart in 2005; and the ANZAC International Military Tattoo and Rolling Stones in 2006.
Sport
Sydney Olympic Park is one of the most active sporting precincts in the world. The Park is Australia's "Home of Sport" with over 50 different sports (including tennis, gymnastics, hockey and athletics) being played at the Park in 2005, by more than 1.2 million participants.
A further 1.5 million spectators attended 80 major national and international sports events held at the Park during 2005.
Telstra Stadium has increased its usage by over 280% since 2001, with at least 38 major sporting events booked for 2006. It is the only stadium in the world to regularly change the configuration of its seating bowl to accommodate both rectangular and oval sports. Nearly 1 million spectators attended events at Telstra Stadium in 2005, making it one of Australia's busiest sports venues.
The Park is also taking a leading position in action sports in Australia, with the recent launch of Monster Skate Park - the only international standard indoor/outdoor ramp facility in Australia, and Monster Mountain X - a world-class mountain cross bike facility in the geographical heart of Sydney. These unique venues cater for skaters and riders of all levels.
Over 1.1 million people visited Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in 2005 either to learn to swim, to participate in swimming carnivals or school sports, for leisure and recreation, or to be a spectator at one of the 88 high-profile aquatic events held at the Centre in 2005.
Education
In 2005 more than 413,000 school students participated in Sydney Olympic Park's educational programs including sports carnivals, weekly school sports, art exhibitions and curriculum-based excursions.
Several major educational institutions are also on-site including Sport Knowledge Australia - Australia's International Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Management, the NSW Institute of Sport, the Australian College of Physical Education and the Universities Admissions Centre.
Business Events
The Park is undoubtedly Australia's most diverse business events destination, with nine major venues, over 90 different function spaces, two hotels, and plans for a new five-star hotel under way.
In 2005 over 1,470 business events comprising meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions and corporate team building events, valued at more than $20 million, were held at the Park. In fact, 10% of visitations to the Park in 2005 were for Business Events, attracting over 800,000 delegates.
Commercial Environment
Sydney Olympic Park has been designated as a "Specialist Economic Centre" by the New South Wales (NSW) Government in recognition of the valuable role the Park can play as a hub for businesses keen to take advantage of its campus-like setting.
Already some 60 corporations and 4,000 workers have relocated to Sydney Olympic Park including international brands such as Samsung, Acer Computer, Swift & Moore and BP Solar, together with leading Australian companies like Ben-Q, Energiser, Dairy Farmers, QBE Insurance and NSW Lotteries.
Sydney Olympic Park's central location, public transport services, car parking facilities, sporting infrastructure, hotels and parkland setting offer a unique proposition to companies committed to providing a healthy and productive work environment for their employees. Commercial buildings at Sydney Olympic Park are being designed and constructed to very high environmental standards - this combination of "green buildings" within a "green campus" gives Sydney Olympic Park a clear competitive advantage, one that will underpin the Park's emergence as a hub for commerce and a specialist economic centre in the years ahead.
Environment and Parklands
The process of land care and environmental remediation that converted an industrial wasteland into a precinct of diverse parklands and rich ecosystems, is one of the great legacies of the 2000 Olympic Games. The parklands of Sydney Olympic Park are the home of endangered and threatened species (including the Green and Golden Bell Frog), wetlands, woodlands and riverlands. It is also a playground for over 1.5 million people who walk, ride, picnic and relax in this extraordinary place which offers over 35kms of cycleways and places of discovery.
Another environmental legacy of the 2000 Games was the investment made in water and energy saving initiatives, including a world-class water recycling system that today saves approximately 850 million litres of potable water annually. Every building at Sydney Olympic Park is supplied with recycled water and has the ability to access green energy from solar sources.
The commitment that gave Sydney the "Green Games" is as strong today as it was at the time of the Olympics. Sydney Olympic Park Authority is driving the establishment of a "green economy" in which environmental education, sustainable building design, ecotourism, environmental research and environmental business events play a key role in defining the local economy and reasserting one of the Park's core values - its commitment to sustainable urban development - another lasting Olympic legacy.
Sydney Olympic Park - a living legacy for the people of Australia
