A部分

Stadiums are among the oldest forms of urban architecture: vast stadiums where the public could watch sporting events were at the centre of western city life as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman Empires, well before the construction of the great medieval cathedrals and the grand 19th- and 20th-century railway stations which dominated urban skylines in later eras.

Today, however, stadiums are regarded with growing scepticism. Construction costs can soar above ￡1 billion, and stadiums finished for major events such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup have notably fallen into disuse and disrepair.

But this need not be the case. History shows that stadiums can drive urban development and adapt to the culture of every age. Even today, architects and planners are finding new ways to adapt the mono-functional sports arenas which became emblematic of modernisation during the 20th century.

B部分

The amphitheatre of Arles in southwest France, with a capacity of 25,000 spectators, is perhaps the best example of just how versatile stadiums can be. Built by the Romans in 90 AD, it became a fortress with four towers after the fifth century, and was then transformed into a village containing more than 200 houses. With the growing interest in conservation during the 19th century, it was converted back into an arena for the staging of bullfights, thereby returning the structure to its original use as a venue for public spectacles.

Another example is the imposing arena of Verona in northern Italy, with space for 30,000 spectators, which was built 60 years before the Arles amphitheatre and 40 years before Rome’s famous Colosseum. It has endured the centuries and is currently considered one of the world’s prime sites for opera, thanks to its outstanding acoustics.

C部分

The area in the centre of the Italian town of Lucca, known as the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, is yet another impressive example of an amphitheatre becoming absorbed into the fabric of the city. The site evolved in a similar way to Arles and was progressively filled with buildings from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, variously used as houses, a salt depot and a prison. But rather than reverting to an arena, it became a market square, designed by Romanticist architect Lorenzo Nottolini. Today, the ruins of the amphitheatre remain embedded in the various shops and residences surrounding the public square.

D部分

There are many similarities between modern stadiums and the ancient amphitheatres intended for games. But some of the flexibility was lost at the beginning of the 20th century, as stadiums were developed using new products such as steel and reinforced concrete, and made use of bright lights for night-time matches.

Many such stadiums are situated in suburban areas, designed for sporting use only and surrounded by parking lots. These factors mean that they may not be as accessible to the general public, require more energy to run and contribute to urban heat.

E部分

But many of today’s most innovative architects see scope for the stadium to help improve the city. Among the current strategies, two seem to be having particular success: the stadium as an urban hub, and as a power plant.

There’s a growing trend for stadiums to be equipped with public spaces and services that serve a function beyond sport, such as hotels, retail outlets, conference centres, restaurants and bars, children’s playgrounds and green space. Creating mixed-use developments such as this reinforces compactness and multi-functionality, making more efficient use of land and helping to regenerate urban spaces.

This opens the space up to families and a wider cross-section of society, instead of catering only to sportspeople and supporters. There have been many examples of this in the UK: the mixed-use facilities at Wembley and Old Trafford have become a blueprint for many other stadiums in the world.

F部分

The phenomenon of stadiums as power stations has arisen from the idea that energy problems can be overcome by integrating interconnected buildings by means of a smart grid, which is an electricity supply network that uses digital communications technology to detect and react to local changes in usage, without significant energy losses.  Stadiums are ideal for these purposes, because their canopies have a large surface area for fitting photovoltaic panels and rise high enough (more than 40 metres) to make use of micro wind turbines.

Freiburg Mage Solar Stadium in Germany is the first of a new wave of stadiums as power plants, which also includes the Amsterdam Arena and the Kaohsiung Stadium. The latter, inaugurated in 2009, has 8,844 photovoltaic panels producing up to 1.14 GWh of electricity annually. This reduces the annual output of carbon dioxide by 660 tons and supplies up to 80 percent of the surrounding area when the stadium is not in use. This is proof that a stadium can serve its city, and have a decidedly positive impact in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions.

G部分

Sporting arenas have always been central to the life and culture of cities. In every era, the stadium has acquired new value and uses: from military fortress to residential village, public space to theatre and most recently a field for experimentation in advanced engineering. The stadium of today now brings together multiple functions, thus helping cities to create a sustainable future.

A部分

体育场是城市建筑形式中最古老的一种：自古希腊和罗马帝国时代以来，人们就在城市生活的中心观看体育比赛的庞大体育场就已经存在，远在后来中世纪大教堂和19世纪和20世纪主导城市天际线的宏伟铁路站之前。

然而，如今体育场却受到越来越多的质疑。建造成本可能高达10亿英镑以上，而为大型赛事如奥运会或FIFA世界杯而建的体育场也明显陷入了闲置和破败的状态。

但情况未必如此。历史表明，体育场可以推动城市发展，并适应各个时代的文化。即使在今天，建筑师和规划者也正在寻找新的方法来改建那些在20世纪现代化的象征的单一功能体育场。

B部分

法国西南部的阿尔勒体育场是体育场的多功能性的最佳例证。这座可容纳2.5万名观众的建筑是由罗马人于公元90年建造的，第五个世纪后变成了一个有四座塔楼的堡垒，然后转变成一个包含200多座房屋的村庄。在19世纪关注保护的日益增长中，它被改建成了一个举行斗牛比赛的竞技场，从而使这个结构重新回到作为公共场所的初始用途。

另一个例子是意大利北部威罗纳的大型竞技场，可容纳3万名观众，它的建造时间比阿尔勒竞技场早60年，比罗马著名的大竞技场（斗兽场）早40年。它经受了几个世纪的时间考验，如今因其出色的音响效果被认为是世界上最佳的歌剧表演场地之一。

C部分

意大利卢卡市中心的一个地区，称为“安菲特剧场广场（Piazza dell'Anfiteatro）”，是体育场被吸纳到城市结构中的又一个令人印象深刻的例子。这个地点以类似于阿尔勒的方式发展，从中世纪逐渐被各种建筑填满，直到19世纪，这些建筑被用作住房、盐仓库和监狱。但这个地方没有重新变成一个竞技场，而是由浪漫主义建筑师洛伦佐·诺托里尼设计成了一个市场广场。如今，竞技场的废墟仍然嵌在周围各种商店和住宅中。

D部分

现代体育场和古代用于比赛的竞技场之间存在许多相似之处。但在20世纪初期，随着体育场使用钢铁和钢筋混凝土等新材料的发展，并利用明亮的灯光进行夜间比赛，某些灵活性已经丧失。

许多这样的体育场位于郊区，仅用于体育目的，并被停车场所环绕。这些因素意味着它们可能对大众不太可及，需要更多能源运行，并对城市的热岛效应有贡献。

E部分

然而，许多当今最具创新精神的建筑师认为，体育场有助于改善城市。在当前的战略中，有两个策略似乎取得了特别成功：将体育场作为城市枢纽，并将其作为发电厂使用。

越来越多的体育场开设公共空间和服务，不仅仅用于体育，如酒店、零售店、会议中心、餐厅、酒吧、儿童游乐场和绿地。创建此类多功能开发项目可以增强紧凑性和多功能性，更有效地利用土地并帮助改造城市空间。

这将使家庭和更广泛的社会群体能够进入这些空间，而不仅仅是为运动员和支持者服务。在英国有许多这样的例子：温布利和老特拉福德的多功能设施已成为世界上许多其他体育场的蓝图。

F部分

将体育场作为发电站的现象源于一个观念，即通过使用智能电网将相互关联的建筑物整合起来，智能电网是一种电力供应网络，利用数字通信技术在本地使用变化时进行检测和反应，减少能量损失。体育场非常适合这个目的，因为它们的顶篷具有大面积安装光伏面板的能力，并且高度足够高（超过40米），可以利用微型风力涡轮发电。

德国弗赖堡的梅格太阳能体育场是新一波体育场发电厂中的第一个代表，包括阿姆斯特丹竞技场和高雄体育场。后者于2009年开幕，拥有8,844块光伏电池板，每年可产生1.14千兆瓦时的电力。这将二氧化碳的年产量减少了660吨，并在体育场闲置时为周围地区提供了高达80%的电力。这证明体育场可以为城市服务，并在减少二氧化碳排放方面具有明显的积极影响。

G部分

体育场一直是城市生活和文化的核心。在每个时代，体育场都获得了新的价值和用途：从军事堡垒到居民村庄，从公共空间到剧院，最近又成为先进工程实验的领域。如今的体育场集合了多种功能，因此有助于城市创造可持续发展的未来。