playing for keeps in hamilton: sport and city redevelopment

Playing for Keeps, June 20, 2011

Playing 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 UniversityScientist, Centre for Research on Inner City Health, St. Michael’s Hospital

Fellow, Successful Societies Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research


Why 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.


History 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


History 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.


Global 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


How Can Sport Promote Healthy Communities?

Direct Means• Spark – physical activity & cognition

• Obesity• Meaningful activity• Belongingness• Social skills• Life skills• Teamwork


Neighbourhood 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 dev’t & retention

• Social capital: collective efficacy, trust in neighbours & institutions, mutual reciprocity

• Cultural capital: place identity and image, cultural knowledge, symbolic goods


Alignment Between Sporting Events and Neighbourhood Dev’t

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



Framework• Physical capital: sport venues can provide iconic architecture; needed high-performance facilities



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



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



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 action…generate 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)



Framework• Cultural capital: sport can be a vehicle for creating place identity & social solidarity and belonging for groups

• The image of some of Hamilton’s unique nhoods can be enhanced through affiliation with specific events or cultural groups participating in the games


Conclusions• 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 Hamilton’s ‘capitals’

• Any evaluation strategy must have a clear framework to align goals and outcomes


www.crunch.mcmaster.ca

@UrbanHealthProf

playing for keeps in hamilton: sport and city redevelopment

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