Hamburg promise 'sustainable, compact' Olympics

Hamburg is set to launch its bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with the city's mayor promising "a compact, sustainable" games -- without a white elephant in sight.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DSOB) announced Monday that Hamburg is their prefered candidate and was chosen ahead of a rival bid by Berlin.
The decision to back Hamburg must still be rubber-stamped at the DSOB's Extraordinary General Meeting in Frankfurt on Saturday.
There will also be a local referendum, likely to be held in autumn 2015, to be won in Hamburg before the bid can progress.
A recent poll suggested that 64 percent of Hamburg's 1.7 million citizens would welcome the Olympics being held in their city and at least 50 percent would need to vote in favour for the referendum to be successful.
Organisers claim support for the bid's sustainable concept seems to be growing in Germany's second largest city.
Hamburg's Mayor Olaf Scholz is promising "a compact, sustainable games that are free from any gigantism and will be an excellent fit in the urban development".
In short, the bid wants to avoid the white-elephant phenomenon which has seen venues from previous Olympics, such as Montreal, Beijing and Athens, left largely unused once the games are over.
"We want to bring the Olympics to the middle of the city," Scholz added.
"This is very special, because it is not possible to do just anywhere."
The plans involve converting an area in the city's port into an Olympic Park with a stadium for 70,000 spectators adjacent to the Athletes Village which would become a new district after the games.
Cruise liners would be moored in the city's port to provide extra hotel rooms.
It would boost Hamburg's current tally of just under 16,000 beds as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires a minimum of 42,000 -- a hurdle that saw Leipzig fail with its bid in April 2003 to host the 2012 Games.
Most of the sports venues would be "reachable on foot or by bicycle" within 30 minutes for spectators and athletes, according to Hamburg's Minister for Sport Michael Neumann.
Five venues would need to built from scratch, including a 15,000-capacity swimming venue, a canoing facility and even a rugby stadium with sevens set to make it's debut at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
Handball, volleyball and basketball events will be held in nearby stadiums which are already in use, while the sailing events will be held in either nearby Rostock/Warnemuende, Luebeck, Kiel or Cuxhaven.
This is the second time Hamburg has prepared a bid to host the Olympics having lost out in April 2003 when Leipzig was chosen to bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which eventually went to London.
An estimated 2.09 billion euros worth are planned and more details of the budget will be given on Saturday in Frankfurt.
Cities have until September 15 to formally enter the race and so far Boston and Rome have officially declared, although Paris is also expected to announce a bid.
The IOC are due to vote on the host city in 2017 in Lima, Peru.
Source: AFP