Stadia are amazing buildings. They can help to shape our towns and cities more than almost any other building type in history, and at the same time put a community on the map. They have become an essential ingredient in the urban matrix that pulls our cities together and in so doing provide a focus for our aspirations. They are also probably the most ‘viewed’ building type in history thanks to the Olympics and other global sporting events. They change people’s lives and may come to represent a nation’s aspirations