22 December 2022
The Solomon Islands will next year host the Pacific Games in Honiara and feverish work has been in place for several months by Chinese (PRC) supervisors and with locally employed tradesmen from the construction sector in building a national stadium and sporting venues, plus erecting accommodation facilities for visiting athletes expected to be participating in the grand sporting event.
In some countries I worked in past years, stadiums and sports/housing facilities were built on the fringes of urban centers, designed for sporting use only, and surrounded by large concrete parking lots reinforced with concrete. They were less accessible to the general public and over time fell into disuse and disrepair.
I haven’t seen the ongoing work on the national stadium and necessary additional facilities in Honiara but don’t for one minute believe such facilities will go unused and will serve the nation for many years to come. I do wonder, however, if any thought has gone into having the facilities serve a function beyond sport and include retail outlets, restaurants, even a hotel or two, a market, green space, perhaps one or more bars, and thus creating what I would call mixed-use development, multi-functional, making better efficient use of land helping to regenerate urban space and create income opportunities for local people
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
