Title: Playing for Keeps in Hamilton: Sport and City Redevelopment
1Playing for Keeps in Hamilton Sport and City
Redevelopment
- James R. Dunn, Ph.D.
- CIHR-PHAC Chair in Applied Public Health
- Associate Professor, of Health, Aging Society,
McMaster University - Scientist, Centre for Research on Inner City
Health, St. Michaels Hospital - Fellow, Successful Societies Program, Canadian
Institute for Advanced Research
2Why Does Sport Matter?
- For millenia, sport has been a central feature of
social and cultural life - Also a significant feature of urban life
- Sport is a source of economic activity
- Its facilities represent important physical
assets - Participation in sport has many virtues
- Gain experience with teamwork, rewards of
perserverance, etc.
3History of Sport Civil Society I
- Importance of sport for Western societies
traceable at least to 776 BCE - First written records of Olympics at this date
- Olympics continued for 600 yrs until Romans
ended them in 393 CE - Romans credited with first making sport a
profession in 310 BCE - Gladatorial games and establishment of training
centres for athletes
4History of Sport Civil Society II
- Romans also used sport facilities as a central
component of the design of cities from Rome
through the Decapolis - (the 10 cities on the Eastern edge of the empire)
to Pula (Croatia) - Roman cities had sports facilities or performing
arts venues at their centre - this design for cities was emulated in the 1980s
and 1990s when several cities that were old
centers of manufacturing focused on plans to
rebuild declining downtown areas.
5Global Games, Local Legacies
- Major international sporting events require large
public investments - To justify such spending, it is imperative that
there is a strong legacy for the public at large,
not just sport enthusiasts - Critics argue that the return seldom justifies
the investment - Efforts to create broad-based legacies must be
aligned with existing local initiatives - Will maximize leverage in both directions
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7How Can Sport Promote Healthy Communities? Direct
Means
- Spark physical activity cognition
- Obesity
- Meaningful activity
- Belongingness
- Social skills
- Life skills
- Teamwork
8Neighbourhood Development Framework
- Local policy levers can / need to address
- Physical capital land, buildings, streets,
heritage architecture, natural features, etc. - Economic capital household disposable income,
business capital, employment, etc. - Human capital skills, knowledge, credentials,
capacity, health vitality human capital devt
retention - Social capital collective efficacy, trust in
neighbours institutions, mutual reciprocity - Cultural capital place identity and image,
cultural knowledge, symbolic goods
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10Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Physical capital sport venues can provide iconic
architecture needed high-performance facilities - Economic capital little net regional economic
benefit, but can redistribute socially
spatially - Human capital sport can enhance human capital
production and human capital retention - Social capital many stabilizing institutions
exist through sport, sport a vehicle for much
civic participation - Cultural capital sport can be a vehicle for
creating place identity social identity for
groups
11Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Physical capital sport venues can provide iconic
architecture needed high-performance facilities
12Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Human capital sport can enhance human capital
production and human capital retention
(Rosentraub) - human capital needed to grow the service economy
is attracted by and to what Pine and Gilmore
(1999) described as the experience economy. - Businesses need to attract and retain the best
talent need locations that had the highest
quality of life, the best mix of amenities, and a
set of large-scale and neighborhood-based
entertainment experiences - There is room for all to benefit from this
diversity is one of the factors that contributes
to such quality of life, and economic provides
jobs
13Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Economic capital little net regional economic
benefit, but can redistribute socially
spatially - E.g., Social purchasing portal for services can
stimulate social entrepreneurs as suppliers to
the sporting events
14Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Social capital many stabilizing institutions
exist through sport, sport a vehicle for much
civic participation - Social capital has been defined as institutions
that facilitate the development of relationships
of mutual reciprocity embedded in social networks
that enable actiongenerate trust, establish
expectations, and create norms (Misener and
Mason, 2006 43) - one does not need to be a sports fan to benefit
from the social capital sport can produce for a
city (Rosentraub 2008)
15Alignment Between Sporting Events and
Neighbourhood Devt Framework
- Cultural capital sport can be a vehicle for
creating place identity social solidarity and
belonging for groups - The image of some of Hamiltons unique nhoods can
be enhanced through affiliation with specific
events or cultural groups participating in the
games
16Conclusions
- Great potential for alignment between legacy
projects and current priorities in Hamilton - Stocks of capital physical, economic, social,
human and cultural can be enhanced thru major
sport events to be drawn upon indefinitely - Best to have a focused agenda do a few things
well and consider what concrete contribution will
be made to Hamiltons capitals - Any evaluation strategy must have a clear
framework to align goals and outcomes
17www.crunch.mcmaster.ca_at_UrbanHealthProf