National structures for building and managing sport facilities: a comparative analysis of the Nordic countries

Abstract

Sport facilities are instrumental in keeping the population fit and healthy. Governments worldwide are thus engaged in devising policies, programs and projects for building such facilities, with the aim of providing citizens with opportunities for a healthy lifestyle. This feature is prominent in the Nordic countries, which have incorporated sport, leisure and physical activity into their universal welfare models. Understanding policies and politics for building sports facilities has therefore become a cornerstone in the understanding of conditions for sport and physical activity for all. In this paper, we investigate and compare the national structures for building and managing sports facilities in the Nordic countries, in order to add to the understanding of how policies and politics for building sport facilities can add to or hamper the sport-for-all ambitions salient in most of today’s western societies.

Notes

1. The backdrop of this volume is the debate over the Nordic model of organising the society, a third way between socialism and capitalism, and its apparent success.

2. As a non-EU member, Norway is not included in this overview. Studies from Norway indicate, however, the same high number of participants in exercise and sport (at least once a week) as the other Nordic countries (Brevik and Rafoss 2017, 15).

3. See for instance The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance (Salamon 2002).

4. On the elite level, that we do not discuss here, the differences are even more pronounced (Andersen and Rongland 2011).

5. Prior to 2009 there were an increase in municipal investments (Håkonsen and Løyland 2012: Table 6–3).

6. The remaining 7% is uncategorised.

7. As mentioned, these figures should be compared with caution. The Swedish figure for municipal funding includes, for instance, leisure facilities in addition to sport facilities.