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Is the "Bird Nest" -- 2008 Main Stadium Too Extravagant?

China is re-evaluating its immense construction budget for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. As part of a campaign to reduce luxury items from the Olympic plan, the building of the new main stadium, nicknamed the "Bird's Nest," has already been put on hold, and the architects have been asked to come up with a less-expensive design, according to an August 16 China Daily report. 

Beijing's original budget for the main stadium was 3.5 billion yuan (US$423 million), but the current design would most likely incur huge overruns, according to Wei Jizhong, an executive director with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

The central government is taking the action partly to set an example for all rapidly developing cities on the mainland in encouraging thrifty spending, especially on landmark buildings. There is a growing understanding that a wasteful Olympics would not be in the best interest of a developing economy like China's.