Sport in the City: The Role of Sport in Economic and Social Regeneration

Sport and Economic Regeneration in Cities

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Drawing on ongoing empirical research by the author, this discussion emphasises the diversity of approaches in terms of their objectives, methodologies and social contexts. On the basis of this discussion, the final part of the article formulates a number of dilemmas and barriers to successful intervention as well some conditions that need to be met in order to enable beneficial outcomes of sport engagement.

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Giulianotti defines sport as:. The three case studies presented in this article all feature football as the main sporting activity. Other often used sports, though to a much lesser extent, are team sports such as volleyball and basketball. However, as I have argued elsewhere, a much wider range of sports may act, in certain circumstances, as agents of personal and social change 8. The first perspective focuses on the intrinsic significance of sport.

People may participate in sport simply because they enjoy playing the game or to learn particular skills directly related to the game. From this perspective, sport participation is viewed as a valued end in itself. The second perspective values sport according to its extrinsic significance, for instance its role in fostering social relationships, social skills and character building 9. Figure 1 lists some of the commonly presumed benefits of sport engagement for the individual.

Here we may speak of development through sport, that is, sport as a vehicle for personal and social change. The primary objective of development programs in this area is social inclusion. Such schemes aim to use sport to achieve societal outcomes, such as improving the health, educational performance, and social and professional skills of target groups It is this latter perspective that I will focus on in this article.

Many people participate in a particular type of sport not only for the sport itself, but also for reasons such as health and social contact. Furthermore, the physical, mental and social benefits accruing from sport participation may surface as a side effect of initiatives principally aimed at enhancing participation in sport and physical activity.

Presumed benefits of sport engagement. Physical fitness and health. Material and cultural effects.

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Professional and technical skills. Reduced anxiety, stress and depression.

Transmission of standards and values. Presumed theoretical benefits of sports remain largely unexplored empirically There is consensus among scholars neither about the precise benefits of sport, nor about the specific conditions that enable social mobility through sport engagement. Consequently, there is a need to test these claims empirically, and to assess sport-based social interventions so that their outcomes can be measured more accurately and future initiatives can be designed more effectively Firstly, the debate is conceptually vague and underspecified.

I would argue that sport can be conceptualised as a vehicle for generating different forms of capital, most notably economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital 16 , from which certain benefits can be derived that enable social agents to improve or maintain their social position. In short, investigating the ways in which social agents create, use and convert capitals through sport enables us to determine more precisely the relationship between sport engagement and social mobility, and to generate better understanding of the conditions necessary for sport-based social intervention programs to achieve social mobility of disadvantaged young people In this view, the benefits of social capital accrue not so much to individuals as to the collectivity as a whole, be they entire communities or nations The transition of the concept of social capital from an individual asset to a community or national resource is relatively weakly developed conceptually.

These are separate and distinct from the social structures that produce them Collective social capital lacks this distinction Moreover, macro-level approaches to social capital under-recognise that social capital is part of a wider set of structural relations and subjective beliefs that are bound up with inequalities of resources, and hence with power inequalities. These inequalities are crucial for understanding both the relationship between sport and social mobility, and the ways in which different forms of capital are generated through sport within particular social contexts.

Capital is essentially a positional asset that people can use in order to strengthen their own position relative to others, and not simply and invariably a communal good.

Such policies frequently ignore not only the wider social and cultural changes that contribute to the erosion of social connectedness and community involvement e. The aim of this discussion is to link the abovementioned theoretical debates to the actual delivery of programs that seek to achieve or contribute to social mobility and social inclusion of urban youth. They are all premised on the belief that sport has significant extrinsic values and the potential to enhance personal and social development, as reflected in the following statement by the United Nations Inter-Agency Taskforce on Sport for Development and Peace:.

Sport — from play and physical activity to organised competitive sport — has an important role in all societies. It teaches core values such as co-operation and respect.

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It improves health and reduces the likelihood of disease. It is a significant economic force providing employment and contributing to local development. And, it brings individuals and communities together, bridging cultural or ethnic divides.

Sport offers a cost-effective tool to meet many development and peace challenges, and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals Following this line of argument, I would argue that different types of sport-based intervention programs face different barriers and are likely to generate different outcomes, and that we therefore need to distinguish more carefully between distinctive forms and foci of practice. The first axis refers to the level of intervention. This scale ranges from a top-down approach that is entirely determined and funded by government, to a bottom-up model of intervention that is initiated and run from within civil society.

In reality there is often a mixed economy of provision, involving partnerships between private, public and voluntary organisations. The second axis refers to the degree to which sport-based interventions are targeted at specific groups that experience social and economic marginalisation, and to whether they attach specific educational services and programs to sport activities in order to redress this marginalisation.

In other words, it differentiates between sport-based interventions that focus primarily on sport i. These two axes can be combined to produce a typology of sport-based social intervention, as shown in Figure 2. Any individual program or initiative can be interpreted as located at a given point on the two scales, fitting into one of the four ideal-type quadrants. A typology of sport-based interventions.

These case studies represent different positions in the proposed typology, as Figure 2 shows. They are based on empirical research by the author in Brazil, Australia and The Netherlands. The case studies were selected on the basis of a multiple-case design, with each case study representing a sport-based intervention with distinctive features with reference to the proposed typology. In each of these case studies the focus is on organised team sports, especially football, which are often viewed as the forms of sport that are most likely to generate durable social connections and social capital The program is thus driven from both ends.

The Dutch Sport Steward program is an example of a comparatively top-down, targeted approach financed by local government and, previously, through EU funding. In this program the focus is also on youth development rather than sport participation an sich. Typical examples of a top-down, non-targeted approach are government-led campaigns to improve sports facilities and to increase sport participation among the general population, for example to promote beneficial health outcomes.

The latter is not discussed below due to its more general nature and due to its focus on health rather than on social mobility The case studies show the diversity of approaches to community sports development and the differential socio-cultural and political contexts in which programs of this kind operate. As such, they underline the point that issues of process and context are key to understanding the developmental potential of sport.

Lack of space prevents me from discussing the three cases in full. Instead, below I provide a concise description of the three sport-based intervention programs under study.

Each case study combined quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was compiled from the records kept by program coordinators regarding the pre- and post-program situations of participants, including their previous and current employment, education, financial and housing situations as well as their behaviour and sporting habits.

This data was supplemented and updated using interview and observation material collected by the author. The purpose of this method was to establish a detailed picture of the impact of the programs on the lives of participating youth and former participants. In addition, focus groups were organised in which participants, former participants, teachers and tutors participated.

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These sessions focused on the life histories of participants and on their expectations and aspirations for the future, such as their views on the impact of the program on their personal development, employment and educational opportunities. Only in one case study, the Vencer program, was a survey conducted among participants and former participants. The other programs, with approximately 80 former participants, were deemed too small to generate any statistically relevant data through surveys.

With over 1, former participants, the Vencer program did lend itself to a larger-scale survey. In total approximately completed surveys were collected at this program. Vencer is part of a wider program, called A Ganar Vencer , which operates in three South American countries: Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador. As the largest volunteer-based organisation in the western hemisphere engaged in social, economic, and cultural development, Partner of the Americas is the executing agency that houses the Project Coordination Unit.

It helps to develop the capacity of the participating local non-governmental organisations NGOs in the areas of financial management, communications and outreach, fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, and volunteer management.

Kimberly S. Schimmel - Google Scholar Citations

The intended overall program outcomes are demonstrably improved employability skills for participating youth, practical work experience that builds their credentials and knowledge about how to pursue job opportunities Vencer is built on the belief that team sport is an effective tool for motivating youth to participate in vocational training and for teaching employment skills. Transport legacy of mega-events and the redistribution of accessibility to urban destinations Sport facility development: Tips on citation download. Harvey Eds Enterprise and Heritage: Cross-currents of National Culture, pp.

Eds The Adelaide Grand Prix: Google Scholar , ISI. Henry Eds Sport in the City: The Economic Impact of Sport Events, pp. North West Devlopment Agency. Google Scholar , Crossref. Paper to the Conference, Tourism and Culture: Sport in the city—the role of sport in economic and social regeneration, , International Review for the Sociology of Sport 38 3 , , Articles 1—20 Show more.

Sport in the city: Elite athletes and university education in Europe: Organisational structures and contexts in British national governing bodies of sport EI Theodoraki, IP Henry International review for the sociology of sport 29 3 , , The governance of professional soccer: Athlete development, athlete rights and athlete welfare:

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