"Beijing established why having the Games was so important to them, their presentation pushed all the right buttons," Walter said.

Under the motto "New Beijing, Great Olympics", the capital promises to host a Green, High-tech Olympics, and People's Olympics.

The Chinese government has followed through on their promise to spend what is necessary to build Olympic-standard facilities in Beijing. It has pledged to spend US$20 billion in building sports complexes and refurbishing Beijing's infrastructure.

There are plans for a new exhibition center with twin skyscrapers that will be taller than any others in the world.

About US$3.7 billion is earmarked for easing traffic congestion, tripling the length of the city's highways and quadrupling the capacity of its subway system.

In addition, about US$400 million has been earmarked to upgrade the health care system and city officials want to pour another US$400 million into communications and technology infrastructure.