Are Grassroots Sports Events Good for Migrant Cities’ Sustainable Development? A Case Study of the Shenzhen 100 km Hikathon

Hui Wang,Donna Wong,Honggang Xu,Peng Ju

doi:10.3390/su11010256

Hui Wang, Donna Wong + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010256

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Abstract

Compared to official sports mega events, grassroots sports events are attractive to participants because of their universality, accessibility, and casual nature. Taking the Shenzhen 100 km Hikathon as an example, this study investigates the effect of grassroots sports events on sustainable development in migrant cities through residents’ perceptions of such events, and how these affect support. We collected 59 questionnaires in a pre-survey and 612 surveys for formal analysis, and used SPSS and AMOS software to construct a structural equation model. The results indicate that the Hikathon’s popularity, low media impact, small scale of investment and construction, and short duration had fewer negative effects and was beneficial to sustainable development for the migrant city. Residents perceived more positive benefits (improved city image and economic, environmental and cultural benefits) and less negative costs (environmental and traffic costs), which lead to broader support for such events. Among residents’ sociodemographic characteristics, only age was found to moderate the relationship between perceived effects and support. The findings suggest that residents generally perceive grassroots sports events positively, especially in migrant cities, such as Shenzhen, where community events are considered to serve an important role in the construction of place identity.

Highlights

Sports mega events have assumed an important role in wider urban and regional development strategies since the 1990s, for instance, in global cities such as Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona
We used the structural equation model (SEM) and AMOS 21.0 data software to test the fit of the conceptual model and to calculate the path coefficient between the variables
This study examined the effects of grassroots sports events on sustainable developments in a migrant city through the lens of residents’ perceptions and support

Summary

Introduction

Sports mega events have assumed an important role in wider urban and regional development strategies since the 1990s, for instance, in global cities such as Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona. The hosting of mega sports events affects leisure spaces, community and practices of local established sporting communities [4]. Temporary, short-term and obtrusive, and likely to impact the immediate and wider political and economic environments where they are held [6,26,27]. Such events, and large-scale or mega events, have the potential to leave legacies that impact the host city for much longer than the duration of the event itself. Cities and countries compete assiduously for a chance to host large-scale international sporting events

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