Paris’s argument was also that, after decades of overspending and waste in other Olympic host cities such as Athens and Barcelona, France could do things more efficiently. So the focus of the 2024 plan is regenerating Saint-Denis, the diverse, deindustrialised town that nudges up against the north of Paris. Only a few new Olympic venues will be built and these will be mostly in Saint-Denis, including a vast aquatics facility. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/ReutersValérie Pecresse, the rightwing head of the Île-de-France region outside Paris, has spoken of “reconnecting” the town of Saint-Denis. Plans to extend the Paris area’s public transport network were in the pipeline before the Olympic bid.

Source: The Guardian September 14, 2017 03:56 UTC