OSAKA -- A report issued Friday by the city of Osaka advocates turning Maishima, a man-made island off Osaka that was the centerpiece of the city's failed bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, into a business, academic and recreation center.

Under the plan, about 20 hectares of the 220-hectare island would be set aside for the construction of warehouses. The city hopes to attract other businesses to occupy the rest of the land.

The new plan represents a major shift in policy following the loss of the 2008 Olympics to Beijing.

City officials had earmarked nearly 100 billion yen toward the construction of an 80,000-seat stadium and other sports facilities on Maishima, which would have been the site for more than half the Olympic events if the city had won the bid.

After Osaka lost the Olympics, Mayor Takafumi Isomura announced that plans for Maishima were back to square one and the island's future became the subject of debate among politicians and business leaders.

Isomura continued to push for development of sports facilities on the island, arguing that they were necessary to turn Osaka into an international sporting center.

Following the failure of the Olympic bid, provisional plans were drawn up that called for construction of a golf course and indoor ski resort adjacent to the baseball and track fields that are already in use.

Another idea, put forward last fall by Koki Chuma, a Liberal Democratic Party Diet member from Osaka, called for the island to be turned into a modern-day version of Nagasaki's Dejima -- a center for foreign businesses and consulates -- but that idea had little support from local businesses or the foreign community.

In the end, Friday's report calls for Maishima to be turned into a combination sports center, warehouse district, light industrial park and neighborhood.

It also suggests that Japanese universities and foreign businesses be invited to relocate to Maishima and that construction of all facilities be completed by 2010. No cost estimate for the construction projects was given.

In addition to Maishima, the report recommends that a planned subway to connect Maishima with two other adjacent artificial islands, Yumeshima and Sakurajima, be postponed because of the severe local economic conditions.

Construction of the 390-hectare Yumeshima, which lies just south of Maishima, is due to be completed next year. The city had hoped to build an athlete's village on the island and then sell off the apartments when the Olympics were over.

Friday's report does not recommend how the island should be used now, only that construction of any new facilities should take into account social and economic changes.

Isomura had no comment on the report but has said repeatedly he wants to continue to work to build sporting facilities within the city.

A final version of the report, which the city said will explain the recommendations in more depth, is expected to be released in September and is likely to be debated by the Osaka Municipal Assembly this fall.