ABSTRACT
In small neighbourhood spaces within some of London’s more deprived areas, teenagers can be seen shooting basketballs, playing football with their friends and texting furiously on their mobile phones. Mothers watch their children, occasionally moving from the sidelines to catch a ball or to make the signal for dinner time. Such a scene is nearly universal. What sets this scenario apart from other snapshots of neighbourhood life is that these activities are happening within a brightly coloured 25 m-squared area, which from an aerial perspective is shaped like the London 2012 Olympic logo.1 On the ground level, the space is branded with both Olympic and adidas logos. The area is an outdoor gym, which also includes a mini climbing wall and various apparatuses for cardiovascular and strength training. The area is an example of a programme that extends the government’s concept of Olympic ‘legacy’ into deprived neighbourhoods in East London. Such ‘adiZones’ – as they are called – fit within a wider framework of plans to regenerate neglected enclaves of the Lower Lea Valley. Since 2008, over 50 of these outdoor gym facilities have been built throughout England.
