A  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.

A  体育场馆是最古老的城市建筑形式之一：早在古希腊和古罗马帝国时期，供公众观看体育赛事的大型体育场馆就已成为西方城市生活的中心，远远早于中世纪大教堂的建造，也早于 19 世纪和 20 世纪占据城市天际线的宏伟火车站。

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.

然而，如今人们对体育场的看法越来越怀疑。体育场馆的建造成本可能高达 10 亿英镑以上，为奥运会或国际足联世界杯等大型赛事建造的体育场馆已明显荒废和失修。

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. 

但情况并非如此。历史表明，体育场馆可以推动城市发展，适应各个时代的文化。即使在今天，建筑师和规划师也在寻找新的方法来改造单一功能的体育场馆，这些体育场馆在 20 世纪已成为现代化的象征。

B  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.

B  法国西南部阿尔勒的圆形剧场*可容纳 25000 名观众，也许是体育场用途广泛的最佳例证。它由罗马人于公元 90 年建造，五世纪后成为一座拥有四座塔楼的要塞，后来又被改造成一个拥有 200 多座房屋的村庄。19 世纪，随着人们对建筑保护的兴趣日益浓厚，该建筑又被改建成斗牛竞技场，从而恢复了其作为公众观赏场地的最初用途。

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. 

另一个例子是意大利北部维罗纳的竞技场，它气势恢宏，可容纳 3 万名观众，比阿尔勒圆形剧场早建 60 年，比罗马著名的斗兽场早建 40 年。它历经几个世纪的风雨，凭借其出色的音响效果，目前被认为是世界歌剧的主要场地之一。

C  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. 

C  位于意大利卢卡市中心的安菲塔特罗广场（Piazza dell'Anfiteatro）是露天剧场融入城市结构的又一个令人印象深刻的例子。该遗址的演变方式与阿尔勒类似，从中世纪到 19 世纪，逐渐被各种建筑填满，曾被用作住宅、盐库和监狱。但它并没有恢复成竞技场，而是变成了一个由浪漫主义建筑师洛伦佐-诺托里尼（Lorenzo Nottolini）设计的集市广场。如今，露天剧场的废墟仍嵌在广场周围的各种商店和住宅中。

D  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.

D  现代体育场与古代竞技场有许多相似之处。但在 20 世纪初，随着体育场馆使用钢材和钢筋混凝土等新产品，并利用明亮的灯光进行夜间比赛，其灵活性有所丧失。

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. 

许多这样的体育场都位于郊区，仅为体育用途而设计，周围都是停车场。这些因素意味着，普通公众可能无法进入这些场馆，场馆运行需要更多的能源，并造成城市供热。

E  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.

E  不过，当今许多最具创新精神的建筑师都认为，体育场在改善城市面貌方面大有可为。在目前的策略中，有两种似乎特别成功：体育场作为城市枢纽和发电厂。

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.

体育场馆配备公共空间和服务的趋势越来越明显，这些空间和服务的功能超出了体育的范畴，如酒店、零售店、会议中心、餐厅和酒吧、儿童游乐场和绿地。像这样的多功能综合开发项目可以强化紧凑性和多功能性，更有效地利用土地，有助于城市空间的再生。

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. 

这就向家庭和更广泛的社会阶层开放了空间，而不是仅仅满足于运动员和支持者。在英国有许多这样的例子：温布利球场和老特拉福德球场的多功能设施已成为世界上许多其他体育场馆的蓝本。

F  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.

F  体育场作为发电站的现象源于这样一种想法，即通过智能电网将相互连接的建筑物整合在一起，可以解决能源问题。智能电网是一种供电网络，利用数字通信技术来检测和应对当地的用电变化，而不会造成重大的能源损失。体育场是实现这些目的的理想场所，因为体育场的顶棚面积大，可以安装光电板，而且足够高（超过 40 米），可以利用微型风力涡轮机。

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. 

德国弗莱堡麦格太阳能体育场是新一轮体育场发电厂浪潮中的第一个，这股浪潮还包括阿姆斯特丹竞技场和高雄体育场。后者于 2009 年落成，拥有 8844 块光电板，年发电量高达 1.14 千兆瓦时。每年可减少 660 吨二氧化碳的排放，在体育场不使用时，可为周围 80% 的地区供电。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产生明显的积极影响。

G  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.  

G体育场馆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：从军事要塞到居民村落，从公共空间到剧院，以及最近的先进工程实验场。今天的体育场集多种功能于一身，有助于城市创造可持续发展的未来。

* amphitheatre: (especially in Greek and Roman architecture) an open circular or oval building with a central space surrounded by tiers of seats for spectators, for the presentation of dramatic or sporting events 

* 圆形剧场：（尤其是希腊和罗马建筑中的圆形剧场）是一种开放式圆形或椭圆形建筑，中央为空间，周围设有多层观众席，用于上演戏剧或体育赛事。