The visit will be particularly interesting following the rise of an alternative plan for some key locations included in the official bid. The idea was first put forward by the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, in October 2009, and involves the transfer of the media village, two press and television media centres and some smaller temporary competition venues from the Barra region in the south-western part of Rio, around 20km from the CBD, where the bulk of venues will be concentrated, to the Port region just out of the CBD and just a few kilometres from the famed Maracanã stadium and João Havelange Stadium, which will host the athletics competitions.
Called Olympic Port, the proposal aims to take advantage of ongoing and much needed redevelopment of the port, which is quite degraded despite offering a range of important infrastructure. Following recent zoning changes in the port surrounds, there is considered to be plenty of room for such facilities, with buildings of up to 50 levels now allowed. The Mayor also cited the much-lauded port redevelopment for the Barcelona Games in 1992 as an example of what they hope to do.
The main questions surrounding the proposal relate to why it wasn´t included in the bid in the first place and just who is set to benefit from such a major change.
