Boosting local areas through new infrastructures
5,500 extra sports grounds in France
+ 4,000 in Seine-Saint-Denis
+ 18 in Seine-Saint-Denis
Source: the Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games
A far cry from the infamous “white elephants” left to ruin after certain previous editions of the Games, the infrastructures built for the 2024 Paris Olympics will serve a purpose for local populations.
In Seine-Saint-Denis, the Olympic and media villages will be transformed into two innovative eco-districts, providing new public services and 4,000 housing units, of which almost 40% will be social housing. Five urban interconnections helping to bring local districts closer together, as well as the emblematic “Pleyel Urban Crossover” project, will be created. Major facilities will also be built or renovated, including 18 swimming pools.
For Île-de-France, key achievements in terms of legacy will be the ability to swim in the Seine and Marne rivers for the general public, as well as significant pedestrian and cycling amenities, notably the 415 km cycle path network.
Across France, the “5,000 sports grounds” (5 000 terrains) plan, which in 2024 will be extended via a new plan with €300 million in funding and the goal of building 10,000 sports grounds, has already enabled the construction of 5,500 local sports facilities to be launched.
The Olympic Delivery Authority
The Olympic Delivery Authority (Société de Livraison des Ouvrages Olympiques, or SOLIDEO) is one of the key structures set up by the French government for the organisation of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Its role is to deliver Olympic and Paralympic infrastructures in compliance with the timeframes, budgets and programmes established and to ensure that, in the wake of the 2024 Games, they are transformed in order to guarantee an ambitious, sustainable and exemplary legacy for local residents, users and areas.
Building a Sporting Nation
Using the impetus of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the French President has decided to make the promotion of physical and sporting activity a “National Cause” in 2024.
The ambition is to change the role of sport in our society in order to reverse the trend towards sedentary habits, which is a ticking time bomb for negative health outcomes. To achieve this, one hallmark policy is the introduction of 30 minutes of daily physical activity, particularly in schools, for 4.5 million young people aged between 6 and 11.
Alongside this flagship measure, other schemes have been deployed in order to re-emphasise the role of sport in the educational sphere: the extension of the Pass’Sport, a three-fold increase in places in sports studies academies and the addition of 2 extra hours of PE for secondary school students per week.
To these measures, which primarily target young people, other schemes have been aded with a more specific focus on participation for people with disabilities and those with difficulty finding employment, making sport a vector for inclusion and integration. For example, funding is allocated to 1,000 clubs, notably in priority urban neighbourhoods (QPV), for the creation of physical education jobs.
In short, unprecedented resources have been brought into play throughout 2024 in order to make France a “Sporting Nation.”
Building a more inclusive society through the Games
300 hours broadcast on France TV
Source: Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games
France’s hosting of the Paralympic Games will provide an unprecedented opportunity to shine a spotlight on disability: 300 hours of competition time will be publicly broadcast, twice the coverage provided during the Tokyo Olympics.
This is also an opportunity to change the way we view disability and to
build a more inclusive society. Currently, only 47% of people with disabilities participate regularly in sports, while 70% say they are interested in sports. As such, in tandem with the Games, 3,000 new
inclusive clubs will be set up by the end of 2024 to provide access to sport for people with disabilities.
The Government has also launched a plan to encourage the development of sports activities in medico-social facilities and services, and the
Pass’Sport has been opened up to young people (aged 30 or under) with disabilities.
Beyond the sports world, society must take action as a whole to improve the lives of people with disabilities. In order to meet the expectations of both the many visitors with disabilities and the 4,400 Paralympic athletes who will be attending the Games, the organisation phase has provided an opportunity to
accelerate accessibility measures in various areas: transport, public spaces, retail spaces, restaurants, hotels, etc. It is for this reason in particular that a €300m
accessibility fund was set up by the Government.
Boosting employment and economic development
90% French service providers
25% of contracts for SMEs
Source: the Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Ensuring the impeccable standards of the Paris 2024 Olympics also means ensuring that they create economic opportunities for local stakeholders.
As a result, the original objective of ensuring that 25% of public procurement contracts issued by Paris 2024/SOLIDEO would be reserved for SMEs, micro-businesses and SSE structures has been largely exceeded. Over 90% of contractors working for the Organising Committee are French, and this figure rises to 99% for companies working on construction and development sites for the Games, of which 75% are based in the Ile-de-France region.
The Games thereby represent a vector for employment: during the events, they will mobilise 181,000 direct and indirect jobs in sectors ranging from tourism (62,000 jobs mobilised), organisation (89,000 jobs, of which 30,000 in private security) and construction (30,000 jobs).
These jobs provide a boost to segments of the public most in need of employment assistance: 10% of working hours associated with Paris 2024/SOLIDEO public procurement contracts are allocated to long-term jobseekers. In total, over 2.6 million hours of occupational integration have already been completed, exceeding the goal initially set.
Paris 2024
