Haarlemstraat 09 - Where the world dreams[BID]

The Simlympic Committee of Victoria (SCV) has announced that they will be placing a last minute bid. They had planned on bidding sooner, but due to the economic situation they thought in unviable. However, due to the quick recovery of the economy they are pleased to announce that they will be bidding with the historic city of Haarlemstraat.

Haarlemstraat was founded in 1602 by the first Dutch settlers to Victoria. Since then, it grew into a major trading port during the 1700's and 1800's. After World War One, the city started to fall into decline due to mass emmigration and lack of investment. In recent decades the situation became so dire that the city council resorted to lifting building bans in the city center, destroying hundreds of historic buildings. However, in the last 10 years, a major gentrification project has been underway, restoring the city to its former glory whilst still incorporating contemporary design. At the moment there are still remnents of this period of destruction but they are gradually being removed.

As this gentrification project has been resulted in the destruction of many buildings, some vacant land has been used to build sporting venues. As such, and as you will soon see, the venues that are to be used for the bid have been placed throughout the city, nicely complementing the surrounding environment.

The logo for the city, although rudimentary at the moment, and will be given an overhaul if selected as the host, represents the city to a tee. The horizontal and vertical lines represent the canal system of the city upon which daily life is reliant. The colours, representative of the Olympic colours also have siginifcance for the city. The red is for their passion for life, no-one takes anything for granted are they live each day as it comes. The blue and yellow are for the vibrancy of the people and their culture as it is a truly unique thing that would make this one of the most interesting Simlympics ever! The green represents the city's desire to been environmentally friendly and lessen its impact upon the environment. The type face of Haarlemstraat represents the architecture of the city, the tall narrow buildings with elegant facades.

The motto for these Games would be, "Where the world dreams"

The Cathedral de San Mateo

Alfred Graadst Stadium

Victoria Velodrome

Sakia Stadium

King Leopold Square - On the right of the picture is the Royal Diamond Exchange, once a thriving enterprise but now serves as a spectacular indoor sporting arena.

LTU Arena



The above two photo graphs show part of King Leopold Canal, the venue that will hold the rowing and other water based events. The section can be seen next to the commercial district, a glittering capitalist paradise with juxtaposes the historic Old Town.



A typical canal scape

Nighttime in the city

The National Swimming Arena can be seen in the top of the photo contrasting the historic Old Town

Financial District

King Leopold Canal

The heart of the financial district. To the extreme left the Municipal Subway Station, the main and largest station in the city.

Victoria Victory Stadium

Victoria Velodrome

Ludwig Graft Theatre - the oldest theatre in the city and is home to many cultural perfomances. For the Simlympics it will be used to stage final indoor events that can be held on a stage such as fencing, using the theatre seating as spectacular spectator seating.

Goodrem Arena

Telstra Arena

Part of the Old Town, a section that still is undergoing gentrification. A lot of the buildings, especially in the bottom left corner are scheduled for demolition and restoration.

The Royal Diamond Exchange and King Leopold Square

National Tennis Center

Haarlemstraat Tower - the tallest building in the Old Town

Victoria National Stadium

Leopold Park

Manaret Arena

Transportation

In the city of Haarlemstraat there are three main forms of transport. The car, the local ferry/boat network and the subway.

The use of the car accounts for 34% of journeys in Haarlemstraat which is excellent compared to other cities in the world. This is because most people rely on the canal network which provides easy access to any building in the city. There is a combination of private and public and ferry companies that operate in the canals. It offers a unique way to see a city. The subway system is the other major form of transportation as there are at least one stop on each island. This means that there is easy access across the whole city, and with a large network of tunnels means that there is no severe over-crowding.

Due to the nature of the city and its canals, it is not feasible to construct a monorail or like transportation system as it will require the demolition of many historic buildings and would disrupt the canal banks and current flow.

Simlympic Park

There will be no oen defined area for the Simlympic Park but a series of zones that are all easily accessed via the subway and canal system.

As previously explained, the venues have been built in previously undesirable locations, increasing the appeal of these areas and the overall aesthetic of the city. The contemporary arenas have been carefully juxtaposede against the historic buildings so that neither takes dominance. They can both be appreciated by themselves and together.

At the time of bidding, not all of the venues have been constructed as the Committee is unwilling to spend large sums of money without a guarantee. Therefore, if this bid is successful there will be a number of new venues built including those for baseball, soccer, mountain biking, indoor events as well as spectator seating for the rowing and sailing.

Construction

At the moment, there are some venues, such as the main stadium which are currently in areas where there is minimal or sparse buildings. These areas, by the time of the Simlympics will be the same as the rest of the city. The City Council is constructing hundreds of new historic properties to restore the city and the canal system. That explains why there are areas where there are missing buildings and a total lack of.

Athletes Village:

There are two main options for the Athletes Village in Haarlemstraat. One option is to house all the athletes in typical housing, the historic merchant houses which are common to the city, giviing the athletes a taste of the city and its culture. But, there is an option to build a new, environmentally friendly development which will, ones the Games conclude, be turned into social housing for the less fortunate of the city. Below is the design of townhouse that would be built