How can a municipality encourage sport in public spaces?

The world of sport is changing, especially recreational sport. Since the coronavirus pandemic, more and more people exercise outdoors, in small groups or alone. Woods and parks became busy with people running, doing bootcamps, yoga or strength training. But not everyone has the equipment for a full outdoor workout, and not everyone has woods or a park around the corner.

Fitting out public spaces

Outdoor exercise is healthy and should be encouraged as much as possible. Municipalities play an important role by making public spaces attractive for sport. This doesn't just apply to woods or parks: think of an unused plot at a sports park, a primary school playground or a college or university campus. There are often many more options; being creative is the key. It's also a good idea to involve local residents.

Sports facilities in public spaces

Which sports facilities should a municipality offer? That depends on many factors; every situation is different. Look at the location, the residents and the existing facilities. Is there already a (football) pitch? Make it more multifunctional with a SportBox, a storage unit for sports and play equipment. If there is nothing yet, an outdoor fitness park might be a good solution. Are there many children in the neighbourhood? Then choose a SmartGoals Urban SkillCourt, an innovative solution that combines sport and gaming.

How do you encourage residents to exercise outdoors more often?

Fitting out a space is one thing, but you also want residents to actually use the facilities. It is important to raise awareness first. After that, you need to activate the innovative concepts in particular; explanation and guidance are essential. Use neighbourhood sports coaches or local sports organisations, organise events or be creative with concepts around the facilities. Besides the main goal, exercise, you'll see the location also starts to play a social role in the neighbourhood.

Social return on investment

Sport and exercise have a social return. This is called social return on investment (SROI): a method that measures whether spending serves a social goal without directly leading to financial profit. The SROI of sport and exercise in the Netherlands is estimated at 1 to 2.51. This means the measured social returns are 2.51 times higher than all investments made to promote sport and exercise. When someone exercises regularly, this can deliver up to €75,000 in social value per person over the rest of their life, in health, social and employment benefits.