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Abstract
In recent years, several cities have constructed new sports facilities in concentrated areas or supplemented existing facilities to create a themed sport zone. Some have branded these areas as “sports cities” to give them visibility and coherence. This research assesses the rationale for these projects, in particular, their potential value as new tourist areas for cities. Although the relationship between sport and cities is an established part of urban studies, there is currently little research that explicitly addresses this new phenomenon of themed areas of cities dedicated to sport. To address the lack of previous work, existing literature on comparable manifestations of themed urban areas is used as a conceptual basis for the paper. A comparative analysis is then conducted of four specific schemes: “SportCity”, Manchester (UK); “The International Sports Village”, Cardiff (UK); “The Aspire Zone”, Doha (Qatar) and “Dubai Sports City” (UAE). These different sports-city zones are compared and evaluated with reference to issues raised in the literature. The paper concludes that, to be successful, sports-city zones need to be planned as such, and not merely employed as convenient brands for existing events facilities.
Notes
Pending the impact of the 2007–2009 recession.
Interestingly, this niche tourism market is not accommodated within Robinson and Gammon's (2004) conceptualization of sport tourism.
This may change as the plans become more definite and the sites mature.
At the time of its construction, this was UK's tallest sculpture and it was named after a quote from 100 m Olympic Gold medallist Linford Christie. Recently, the sculpture has suffered several technical deficiencies and the local council are currently seeking compensation from the company which designed and installed it.
Figures are not available for Doha itself
Of Qatar's population of 610,000, 75% are expatriates—who would provide the main ‘domestic’ market (Amara, Citation2005).
