Fourteenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Sport is very influential in fostering identity and social cohesion. When a facility associated to a team that has a large following is being constructed, those involved interpret their involvement going beyond the physical construction of the venue. Since the venues are treated like hallowed places akin to religious holy places; those involved feel that they are a part of something grander than the seeable physical testament of their works. This aura of the sports facilities and the transcendental portrayal by the followers of the game whatever it is, could be garnered to bring peoples from all walks of life together to contribute diversely in a way that they could feel that their contribution is timeless and immeasurable. The people at the lowest rung of the social stratification will mostly be involved during the construction of the facility. The paper considers how such involvement around the work has been used to bring about social cohesion and economic upliftment. A systematic literature review for all the major facilities around the world was used to synthesize the main findings that informed the conclusions of this study. It was observed that where the construction was mishandled the opposite of what is proposed here is the result. in cases where there was a of consultation and transparency, these facilities could have social and political spin-offs to the champions of these schemes. This study may inform and inspire other new developments around the work instructively.