Brisbane Announced as Host City for 2032 Olympic & Paralympic Games

The winner is… Brisbane! The International Olympic Committee has voted in Tokyo and Brisbane has officially secured the right to host the world’s largest event, the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.

Seven years ago when the bid planning officially commenced by the SEQ Council of Mayors, the bid was largely seen as a long shot. Brisbane’s Lord Mayor at the time Graham Quirk took a stab in the dark by tabling the idea and it ended up paying off, massively.

In 2014, a Brisbane 2032 games taskforce met with the IOC president Thomas Batch in Sydney and discussed the opportunity for Brisbane to be the centre of a regional South East Queensland Olympic bid. They told the IOC that it would be far from the traditional big spending games that the world has become accustomed to, but rather a more sustainable approach whereby existing sporting infrastructure throughout the region would be used, around 84% to be precise.

Much to their dismay, the IOC were also working out how to transform the games to become more sustainable and less of a financial burden on their host cities. After numerous ‘high budget’ Olympic Games had left host cities with financial scars and abandoned sporting infrastructure, the IOC recognised things needed to change, and the Brisbane bid was there at the right place and the right time, it was the solution to the IOC’s problem.

Governed by new rules the IOC put in place to limit unnecessary waste that cities spent on Olympic bids, Brisbane was given preference by the IOC and all other interested city bids parked for future consideration.

The Brisbane games will be the first of this new sustainable approach. A benchmark of a more grounded games that not only diligently uses existing infrastructure but only invests in projects that the city will benefit from long term.

The Brisbane Olympics will also substantially benefit from having over a decade to plan, stage and construct long term infrastructure required. Society wise, similar to counting down the days left before a holiday that has been planned well in advance, South East Queenslanders will have eleven years of something to look forward to.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES BARELY LASTS THREE WEEKS, but ITS LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE LASTS FOR GENERATIONS.

The Olympics should not be seen as just two weeks of sport, it should be seen as a way for a city’s inhabitants to benefit from infrastructure such as much needed transit projects that the region would not have otherwise got.

Let’s look at the infrastructure planned as part of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Masterplan.

Brisbane Zone

1. Brisbane Arena (also known as Brisbane Live). Aquatics (Swimming, Water Polo). 

• Major development – construction planned for 2027-2030.
• Built on top of existing surface rail, the new underground Cross River Rail and underground Brisbane Metro busway.

2. Brisbane Football Stadium. Rugby, Football (Finals).

3. Brisbane Cricket Ground. Athletics (Track and Field), Ceremonies.

• Major development – demolition of existing stadium and construction planned for 2026 – 2030.

4. Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Table Tennis, Fencing, Taekwondo, Badminton.

5. South Bank Cultural Forecourt. Archery.

6. South Bank Piazza. 3 x 3 Basketball.

7. Victoria Park. Cycling (BMX Freestyle), Equestrian (Cross Country).

8. Brisbane Showgrounds. Equestrian.

9. Ballymore Stadium. Hockey.

• Planned redevelopment to build permanent grandstand. Games capacity 15,000.

10. Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre. Basketball.

• Planned new facility for inner city Brisbane – Construction planned between 2026 and 2028.

11. Brisbane International Shooting Centre. Shooting.

12. Anna Meares Velodrome. Cycling (Track), Cycling (BMX Racing).

13. Brisbane Aquatics Centre. Aquatics (Diving, Artistic Swimming, Water Polo [preliminaries]).

14. Chandler Indoor Sports Centre. Gymnastics.

• Planned new venue – construction 2024 – 2026.

15. Redland Whitewater Centre. Canoe (Slalom).

• New planned venue – construction in 2024-2026.

16. Manly Boat Harbour. Sailing.

17. Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Handball

18. Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre. Boxing.

• Planned new – construction in 2025 – 2027.

19. Queensland Tennis Centre. Tennis

• Existing – Upgrade works planned for 2030-2031.

21. Wyaralong Flatwater Centre. Rowing, Canoe (Sprint). 

Brisbane Olympic Village (10,729 beds).

• Major development – Located at Northshore Hamilton.
• The village is part of Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal project. The site is owned by Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), the Queensland Government’s specialist land use planning and property development agency.
• In legacy mode (after the games), the village will deliver a mix of housing supply including social housing, hotel stock and market housing in line with long-term needs. This legacy for the site has been planned since 2008. To date, around 3,000 apartments have been delivered with the remaining 11,000 (including around 1,750 for the village) planned to be delivered by 2050.

International Broadcast Centre (IBC)

• A temporary 57,000m2 venue. IBC location proposed for 99 Montague Road, South Brisbane. 100% of required land still to be acquired (7ha).
• Site preparation would require capital investment which is guaranteed by the Queensland Government. It includes demolition of existing industrial buildings, site remediation and construction of permanent utilities, including a new substation.

Main Press Centre (MPC)

• 30,000m2 have been secured in the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, 800m from the International Broadcast Centre.
• Shuttle buses between the IBC and MPC would allow shared services to ensure efficiencies.

Gold Coast Zone

22. Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre. Volleyball, Weightlifting.

23. Broadbeach Park Stadium. Volleyball (Beach).

• Temporary stadium with 12,000 capacity.

24. Royal Pines Resort. Golf.

25. Gold Coast Sports & Leisure Centre. Judo, Wrestling.

26. Coomera Indoor Sports Centre. Volleyball.

27. Broadwater Parklands. Triathlon, Aquatics (Swimming Marathon).

28. Gold Coast Stadium. Football (preliminaries/QF).

Gold Coast Olympic Village (2,600 beds).

• Major development – Planned for Robina Town Centre.
• The site is fully owned by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), a Queensland Government owned Corporation.
• In legacy mode, the village will deliver a mix of residential housing and commercial facilities.

Sunshine Coast Zone

29. Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre. Basketball (preliminaries).

• Planned new venue. 6,000 games capacity.

30. Sunshine Coast Stadium. Football (preliminaries/QF)

• Existing – upgrade works required. Games capacity 20,000.

31. Alexandra Headland – Cycling (Road), Athletics (Marathon, Race Walks), Sailing (Kiteboarding). 

32. Sunshine Coast Mountain Bike Centre. Cycling (Mountain Bike).

Sunshine Coast Satellite Village (1,374 beds)

• Major development – part of Maroochydore’s new Central Business District.
• In legacy mode, the village will deliver a mix of residential housing and commercial facilities.

Transit Infrastructure

The masterplan video which helped win us the right to host the games mentions “high quality road and rail” in the first 20 seconds. It is not far fetched to assume that because this is a regional SEQ games, with events spread out across the region, safeguarding South East Queensland’s transport accessibility would be of the up most importance for a newly created Brisbane 2032 Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA).

The region’s rail capabilities, even with Cross River Rail completed is extremely limited. You would never consider going from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast by train. That needs to change if we want to avoid complete gridlock in the region. If there should be one lasting legacy project gifted to South East Queenslanders, it should be region wide high speed rail or fast rail.

Brisbane Development will keep you updated throughout the decade ahead. Starting with the activation of the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG), which is to be established 5 months after the signature of the host contract as well all proposals of Olympic related infrastructure to be unveiled by the Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA).