Engineering a lasting legacy for London's Olympics

The once magnificent Olympic Park in Athens has become a ghost town. Even the most enthusiastic tourists struggle to find remnants of former sporting glory among abandoned Olympic buildings that are now covered in litter and graffiti.

Once described as the ’dream games’ by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the empty stadia for the 2004 games have become national symbols of excessive spending and lavish design. As Greece grapples with more than $300bn (£230bn) of public debt, London is hoping to learn from past mistakes by staging what it hopes to be the world’s first ’sustainable games’.

For many, spending £9.4bn for two weeks of sport is irresponsible and extravagant, especially at a time when the country is trying to claw its way out of recession. But the Olympic Development Authority (ODA) claims that, this time, taxpayers’ money will be put to good use to provide long-term benefits for the country, with engineers and architects set to play a crucial part in its success.