Culture, sport and the night‐time economy

Abstract

This article is concerned with three principal subjects: the place of sport in urban renewal, especially in working‐class and de‐industrialising zones of the city; its position in relation to other cultural forms, especially the potential breakdown of barriers between cultural forms; and the role of sport in the urban night‐time economy, in particular with regard to conceptions of creative, culturally active, 24‐hour cities. It considers international debates on these matters through a case study focus on the Australian city of Parramatta, which is part of the greater Sydney conurbation and has adopted an arts, culture and creativity‐led strategy of reinvention. Parramatta is a predominantly working‐class area with a strong sports presence, including a large stadium close to a developing cultural precinct and entertainment hub. This local case study addresses questions about sport, after‐dark culture and the night‐time economy, and the tensions within cultural planning between favoured and discounted modes of culture.

Keywords:

• sport
• urban culture
• cultural planning

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my Co‐Investigators, and also Research Assistants Nathaniel Bavinton, Kylie Brass and Kieryn McKay, for their various contributions to the preparation of this article. I would also like to thank Professor John Hughson for the invitation to attend the Sport in the City: Cultural Connections Symposium, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, in November 2007, at which an earlier version of this article was presented.

Notes

1. This article is founded on two research projects: ‘Culture Circuits: Exploring the International Networks and Institutions Shaping Contemporary Cultural Policy’ was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (with Deborah Stevenson); and ‘The City After Dark: Cultural Planning and Governance of the “Night‐time Economy” in Parramatta’ Project (with Deborah Stevenson and Stephen Tomsen, and Parramatta City Council as a partner), funded by a University of Western Sydney Urban Research Initiatives Grant, which has contributed to a new Australian Research Council on Sydney’s night‐time economy.