John Hopkins DipLA MLA FLI ASLA is a landscape architect, environmental planner and urban designer. He was project sponsor for the parklands and public realm at the Olympic Delivery Authority from 2007 to 2011 and is currently visiting professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Greenwich.

Peter Neal BA (Hons), DipLA, MDes, Dip Ecology, FLI is a landscape architect, environmental planner and urban designer. He was head of public space at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment from 2003 to 2011 and has acted as an adviser to the Olympic Delivery Authority for the Parklands and Public Realm since 2006. He currently runs his own landscape planning and design consultancy specializing in urban parks and the public realm.

Acknowledgements 5

Foreword - Sir Nicholas Serota 8

Introduction - The Power of the Games 12

Chapter One - Start with the Park 22

Interview: Alison Nimmo CBE 36

Interview: Jason Prior & Bill Hanway 46

Chapter Two - Delivering the Park 60

Interview: Sir David Higgins 66

Interview: Ian Galloway OBE & Matt Heal 80

Chapter Three - Planning and Designing the Park 104

Interview: George Hargreaves 116

Interview: Andrew Harland & Neil Mattinson 140

Interview: Sarah Price 154

Chapter Four - Constructing the Park 166

Interview: Simon Wright OBE 180

Interview: Tom Armour & Bill Grose / Alison Braham & Martyn Lass MBE 190

Interview: Professor Nigel Dunnett & Professor James Hitchmough 210

Chapter Five - A Walk in the Park 228

Interview: Dennis Hone 236

Interview: Sir John Armitt 244

Afterword - ProfessorJames Corner 260

Schedule of Teams Involved in the Project 264

Glossary 269

References 272

Index 278

Picture Credits 286