Going for green: Cities bidding for the 2012 Games

BBC News Online examines the environmental credentials of the nine cities hoping to make the shortlist to host the 2012 Summer Games.

Havana, Cuba: No information available. When BBC News Online approached Havana's bid team for a copy of its mini-bid book, the Cuban Olympic Committee said it was "impossible by the ethics code of the IOC" to forward a copy to us.

Istanbul, Turkey: Olympic Park will provide urban green space for sport and recreation; Olympic Village to help meet high demand for housing; embrace green technology to reduce emissions; public transport infrastructure to meet needs of Paralympians; $1.5bn ongoing project to clean up water supplies and 19 nearby creeks; 14 sports venues will be built, 10 of which will be permanent.

Leipzig, Germany: Olympic Village, media village and broadcast facilities to be built on derelict sites; "zero emission Olympic Village"; 90% of competitions will be held within a 10km radius of the Olympic Village; 51% of venues already exist, 21% are planned and 28% will be built for the Games; transport plans include an Olympic bicycle rental scheme.

London, UK: Catalyst for "most significant urban regeneration project ever seen in London"; creation of eco-park for waste treatment and renewable energy source for local community; Olympic Park to "form one of the biggest new city green spaces in Europe for 200 years"; Olympic environmental awareness campaign; 10 sports venues will be built, seven of which will be permanent.

Madrid, Spain: Venue will be built on old mineral exploitation site; development of Olympic Agenda 21 to include sustainability plan; venues will be reforested and repopulated with Mediterranean fauna and flora; green transport infrastructure to include cycle lanes and pedestrian paths; environmental education programme; five sports venues will be built, three of which will be permanent.

Moscow, Russia: Hosting the games will "improve our overall environmental management experience"; transport planning to ease traffic flow and congestion, improving air quality; new venues will be more energy efficient, and will act as models for future construction; "Olympic River" regeneration will improve green spaces to the benefit of Muscovites; No details of additional sports venues.

New York, US: More than 224 hectares of new or "dramatically enhanced" parkland; Olympic Village and some sporting venues will be built on "brownfield" sites; improvements to subway and ferry services; Olympic stadium will be designed to use renewable energy and water sources; city's two largest lakes to be cleaned up; eight new sports venues will be built (no details on temporary/permanent ratio).

Paris, France: Northern site will be built on a former industrial site; the permanent "SuperDome" venue will act as catalyst for better transport links with central Paris; Olympic Village will be built following an "environmentalist approach"; noise nuisance controls; introduction of non-polluting forms of transport; 14 new sports venues will be built, four of which will be permanent.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Rio labels its bid as the "nature's games"; would act as a "stimulus" for regeneration projects, improving air quality; promotion of green technology; Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) principles will be used in projects for both the 2012 Games and the Pan American Games (Rio is hosting the event in 2007); 10 new sports venues, three of which will be permanent.