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With an increasing emphasis on the social value of sport and events, there has been a shift in focus regarding the management and development process of event projects as well as their associated outcomes. This shift is about emphasizing a more strategic approach to developing social benefits by recognizing and utilizing leverageable resources related to sport events as a means of fostering lasting social and economic change (Chalip, 2006; O'Brien & Chalip, 2007; Schulenkorf & Edwards, 2012). In this paper, we adapt and apply the asset-based community development (ABCD) approach as a means of developing a more action-oriented, community-based approach to leveraging the social assets of sporting events. In applying the ABCD approach, we aim to shift the focus of event-led projects away from attempts to "solve" social problems (i.e., deficit perspective) to enhancing the existing strengths of communities (i.e., strengths perspective). We reflect on case study findings that highlight the challenges and opportunities in realizing an ABCD approach for disadvantaged communities through an examination of a healthy lifestyle community event initiative in the Pacific Islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the perceptions of members of urban regimes in three cities: Edmonton, Manchester, and Melbourne, regarding the use sporting events for broad-based community outcomes. In Edmonton, members of the urban regime interviewed did not perceive the sporting events strategy to be directly tied to community development objectives. In Manchester and Melbourne, regime members believed that the use of events for development was uniquely tied to communities and community development goals. In addition, regime members in the latter two cities provided examples of symbolic attempts to foster community around the sporting events strategies. While this study could not reveal whether attempts to meet the needs of local communities were being achieved through the sporting events strategies, it is at least encouraging to note that those who control resources and conceive of, oversee, and implement growth strategies within cities view community development as important to these strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the coalitions undergirding comprehensive sport-centered growth agendas in three cities actively pursuing sporting event development strategies: Edmonton, Canada; Manchester, United Kingdom; and Melbourne, Australia. Using DiGaetano and Klemanski's (1999) study of modes of urban governance as a starting point, we review each city's urban political economy, urban governing agenda, and urban governing alliances. We then discuss whether coalitions in each of the cities can be identified as regimes, by examining the conditions required for the presence of regimes developed by Dowding (2001). Results suggest the presence of regimes in each city, which can be best described using Stoker and Mossberger's (1994) symbolic regime, developed in their typology of regimes for cross-national research. However, the cities differ slightly, with Edmonton exhibiting the characteristics of a progressive version of a symbolic regime, whereas Manchester and Melbourne more closely resemble urban revitalization regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research question:Sporting events have become highly sought after tools for economic, tourism, and social development in cities around the world; however, little is understood about how to effectively leverage events. This purpose of this paper is to present a framework for leveraging small-medium scale sporting events for increasing community accessibility and opportunities for persons with a disability to participate in sport, recreation, and leisure. Research methods:Drawing upon interview and documentary data that are part of a broader research project that examines how small-medium scale sporting events have and can be leveraged to enhance accessible opportunities in local communities, the data were reanalysed focused postevent learning in regards to leveraging strategies for future event opportunities in order to build the framework. Results and findings:The Parasport-leveraging Framework is presented here as an emergent leveraging structure that shifts the focus of parasport event legacies away from the notion that merely hosting a disability sport event will impact upon communities' understanding and relationship with disability sport. Further, the framework emphasizes the need to strategically use the events in the context of policy frames and discourses of event-related processes. Implications:This research furthers the work of Chalip, Smith, and others who have argued that in order for benefits to accrue to a host region, host communities need to find points of leverage within the context of event resources to enhance positive social legacies. Additionally, it offers a strategic starting point for communities seeking to implement leveraging plans alongside event agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games1 bids were selected as a case study to explore how the focus on social responsibility (CSR) and community development (CD) differs in traditional versus nontraditional bid cities. We employed a media framing methodology to examine how the bids were represented through media and articulated by various stakeholders. Of specific interest was the finding that the discourse surrounding the Rio de Janeiro bid put a greater focus on the capability of sport to reach out to disadvantaged populations and create balance within the global economy. The results from this study will provide insights into how the global media has framed megaevent bids from nontraditional cities, and the social and economic benefits event proponents argue can be accrued from hosting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hosting sporting events has emerged as a means for cities to reposition themselves in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Despite the widespread use of sporting events in urban development, the degree to which the local community fits into the plans of a city's pro-growth agenda has been questioned. None the less, events may provide opportunities for community development. Thus, this paper explores the potential that the hosting of sporting events has for the creation of community networks. Following an overview of sporting events and a discussion of forms of capital, we suggest that the construct of social capital might offer an important theoretical paradigm for understanding how sporting events can be used to build community networks and facilitate improved social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]