Most Londoners identify prospect of Olympic legacy

An Ipsos poll for London Councils finds Londoners positive about the benefits of the capital being host city: three-quarters identify a legacy.

Undertaken in May for the body representing the capital’s 33 local authorities, the survey involved interviews with 954 adults who were asked:

‘What, if anything, do you think will be achieved as a legacy of a long-term benefit of the Olympic Games in London in 2012?’.

Unprompted, Londoners identified a range of benefits including sporting facilities. This is mentioned by 18%. Other benefits include:

• More visitors/increased tourism (mentioned by 17%)
• Regeneration of/improvements to east London (14%)
• Good for London's economy (12%)
• Better transport infrastructure (12%)
• More jobs/increased employment (12%)
• Improve London’s international standing (8%)
• More/better housing (8%)

Better sporting facilities are the top-mentioned benefit among all age groups with the exception of 18-24 year olds who are more likely to identify increased tourism, economic benefits and better transport.

A quarter of Londoners (25%) say they do not see any legacy or benefit, a tenth (10%) say don’t know and one per cent said there would be a negative impact from debt or the cost to the taxpayer of hosting the Games. These sentiments are stronger among older age groups and residents in outer London.

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Technical note

• Interviews with representative sample of 954 adults aged 18+ across London’s 32 boroughs.
• Undertaken by telephone between 9-20 May.
• Data weighted to the known population profile.