Tokyo Olympics: What happens to expensive venues after Summer Games end?

Tokyo Olympic Games were organized at a total of 42 venues, of which at least 27 stadiums were located in the vicinity of the Japanese capital split into two zones, the Heritage Zone and Tokyo Bay Zone. Rest 15 were the outlying venues. The Tokyo Olympics stadium held a capacity of 68,000 and was also used as the main stadium for the 1964 Olympic Games. For the Summer Games, the venue was redesigned as a brand new stadium by the acclaimed architect Kengo Kuma where both opening and closing ceremonies were held. While the games concluded, the question arises, what happens to Olympic venues and the gigantic stadiums that comprised mega share of the total $15.4 Billion investment? 

A flurry of construction and designing went into hosting the Olympics that came about after a year’s delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the games finished Sunday with the closing ceremony held after 17 long days, it is up to the host city to decide the fate of the venues. Of the 42 different venues where games were hosted during the Tokyo Olympics, many are expected to be used as stadiums for major sporting events, some others meanwhile may be utilized for gigs that expect a humongous crowd for instance a LIVE musical performance. 

The venues had hosted tens of thousands of athletes in the Olympic Village, located at the intersection of the two zones. It is being reported that the athlete accommodation constructed for the Tokyo Olympics will be renovated into residential complexes which will be occupied by Japanese families. According to Olympics’ official website, the organizers, in fact, are planning to “establish a new community where a diverse range of people can interact and live comfortably.”

Fate of venues for yesteryears Olympics games 

The venues of the 2012 London Games, which incurred a whopping investment of $12 billion, were converted to 3,000 new housing facilities in the East Village. After the games, the government constructed restaurants, shops, and schools to make the area a convenient spot for living. Reports suggest that a two-bedroom flat in the Athletes' Village of 2012 Olympics went on sale and cost upwards of $1 million. Meanwhile, the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Village, dubbed largest in history, was converted to luxury condos.

The 1972 Munich Games Olympics Village was transformed into Munich’s second-largest university student housing development alongside some typical residential complexes. This was where the Palestinian terrorist group, Black September, took nearly 11 Israeli athletes and their coaches hostages and murdered them later, according to the reports. 1996 Atlanta Games' venue was also converted into student housing for Georgia State University. Sochi 2014 Winter Games located at scenic sight by the sea and the base of ski mountains were turned into resorts once the Games ended.