Search Results (14)

Exploring the cognitive and affective image dimensions involved in the formation of attractive sports destinations is essential to understand how sports activities influence participants’ experiences. This study explores how municipal sports programs and small-scale events shape both the cognitive and affective image of a destination. The research was conducted among 456 adult participants engaged in public sports events and recreation programs in various municipalities across Attica, Greece. Participation was voluntary and based on an open public call. The questionnaire was adapted from (a) scale, which examines the influence of a sports event image on a destination image—it included 17 items measuring the cognitive image destination grouped into four factors: (1) environment, (2) experiences, (3) attractions, and (4) entertainment–infrastructure, as well as 5 items assessing one factor of affective image destination—and (b) a scale for the intention to participate in sports events and exercise programs. The findings provide insights into how community-level sports initiatives contribute to form a favorable destination image, not only through tangible elements like facilities and environment but also through emotional engagement and social connectivity. These results can inform the development of more targeted and impactful local sports programs that enhance participant’s satisfaction and foster long-term community involvement. Full article

Urbanization in developing countries has led to increasing demands for high-quality public services, highlighting the need for an effective spatial allocation of resources. This study evaluated the spatial distribution of sports facilities in Shanghai’s central urban areas and Pudong New Area, focusing on accessibility, variegation, and coherence at municipal, district, neighborhood, and community levels. The findings reveal that Pudong New Area has higher-quality facilities compared to central areas, with a distinct “southwest-northeast” axis of high-quality sports facilities in Pudong. A multidimensional spatial evaluation framework was developed, offering practical insights for optimizing resource allocation, enhancing accessibility, and addressing supply-side gaps in developing countries. Full article

The quality of sports facilities, especially football pitches, has gained significant attention due to the growing importance of sports globally. This study examines the effect of two different cutting systems, a traditional ride-on mower and an autonomous mower, on the quality and functional parameters of a municipal football field. The analysis includes visual assessments, measurements of grass height, and evaluations of surface hardness, comparing the performance of the two cutting systems. Additionally, studies of turfgrass composition and machine learning techniques, particularly with YOLOv8s and YOLOv8n, are conducted to test the capability of assessing weed and turfgrass species distribution. The results indicate significant differences in grass color based on the position (5.36 in the corners and 3.69 in the central area) and surface hardness between areas managed with a traditional ride-on mower (15.25 Gmax) and an autonomous mower (10.15 Gmax) in the central region. Higher height values are recorded in the area managed with the ride-on mower (2.94 cm) than with the autonomous mower (2.61 cm). Weed presence varies significantly between the two cutting systems, with the autonomous mower demonstrating higher weed coverage in the corners (17.5%). Higher overall performance metrics were obtained through YOLOv8s. This study underscores the importance of innovative management practices and monitoring techniques in optimizing the quality and playability of a football field while minimizing environmental impact and management efforts. Full article

This study explores strategies for promoting sustainable development in urban public spaces by focusing on transforming and reusing closed landfill sites. Using landscape regeneration theory and the genius loci principle from architectural phenomenology, this research investigates spatial redesign techniques to facilitate the sustainable utilization of these sites. Through the analysis of three representative case studies and the specific application of these strategies to the Zhangjiawan Landfill site in Xining City, Qinghai Province, northwest China, this study elucidates practical approaches for spatial function transformation, constructing community networks, and heritage preservation and cultural continuity. From an urban macro-planning perspective, the post-closure design of the Zhangjiawan Municipal Landfill emphasizes organic linkages with adjacent city parks, fostering community integration and enhancing recreational opportunities for residents. The transformed area facilitates social interaction and cultivates a harmonious community atmosphere by repurposing the site to incorporate community farms, cultural centers, and outdoor sports facilities. Moreover, integrating leisure spaces, cultural exhibitions, and ecological restoration initiatives contributes to ecosystem rehabilitation while providing residents with leisure, social engagement, and cultural enrichment spaces. This research demonstrates how effective spatial transformation can promote environmental education, heritage preservation, and urban functionality in redeveloping closed landfill sites. The theoretical insights and practical design strategies presented contribute to advancing sustainable practices in urban planning and public space utilization. Full article

Investing in large-scale public infrastructures is vital for urban renewal and development, often relying on specific types of buildings to drive investment in municipal infrastructure and supporting service buildings. However, the complex interplay of interests among investors introduces unpredictability, hindering the effectiveness of such investments. This study employs evolutionary game theory to explore how investment benefits influence investor behavior. Using China’s large-scale exhibition infrastructures as a case study, a tripartite evolutionary game model is developed, involving the government, investors in exhibition buildings, and investors in supporting services. The strategies of the three parties are analyzed, and simulations explore the effects of different initial strategy values, costs, subsidies, and profits. Five research outcomes are identified, indicating that favorable initial investments and optimal subsidies encourage proactive investment, while high initial costs deter it. Consequently, five recommendations for promoting coordinated investment in exhibition facilities are proposed, including the establishment of communication platforms to enhance stakeholder cooperation. These findings offer insights for decision making in other large-scale infrastructure investments, such as sports facilities and transportation hubs. Full article

Sports centers are significant energy consumers. This article outlines the engineering design for a comprehensive energy performance upgrade of the indoor sports hall in Arkalochori, Greece, and presents the projected results. The indoor sports hall constitutes a major sport facility on the mainland of Crete, hosting a broad cluster of sport municipal activities and the official basketball games of the local team in the 2nd national category. Having been constructed in the mid-1990s, the facility exhibits very low thermal performance, with considerably high U-factors for all constructive elements (from 4 to 5 W/m²∙K), still use of diesel oil for indoor space heating and domestic heat water production, and ineffective old lamps and luminaries covering the lighting needs of the facility. The energy performance upgrade of the indoor sports hall was studied, and the following passive and active measures were considered: Opaque-surfaces’ thermal insulation and openings’ replacement, stone wool panels, installation of heat pumps for indoor space conditioning, removal of diesel oil for any end use, production of domestic hot water from a novel solar-combi system, upgrade of lighting equipment, installation of solar tubes on the main sports hall roof for natural lighting as well as of a photovoltaic system for covering the remaining electricity consumption. With the proposed interventions, the studied building becomes a zero-energy facility. The payback period of the investment was calculated at 26 years on the basis of the avoided energy cost. This work was funded by the “NESOI” Horizon 2020 project and received the public award “Islands Gamechanger” competition of the NESOI project and the Clean Energy for EU Islands initiative. Full article

The urgency of addressing the climate crisis has heightened the need to make sustainable decisions. Universities and research institutions are uniquely able to help develop and disseminate useful information for industry, specifically small and medium enterprises. This case study examines the collaboration between the Guelph Turfgrass Institute (GTI) and the turfgrass industry that culminated in the creation of a “Turf Net Present Value Model”. This model enables turfgrass installers, managers, and local municipalities to determine the structure of their turfgrass systems, natural or artificial, and estimate the net present value (NPV) over an extended period. A conceptual model for effective industry-university collaboration is then used to evaluate the knowledge transfer between academia and industry, showcasing a knowledge-transfer framework for improved decision-making and sustainability in sports facilities. Full article

Sports centres constitute major energy consumers. This article presents the proposed energy performance upgrade process and the achieved results for the municipal sports centre in Arkalochori, Greece. The facility consists of a swimming pool centre, an outdoor 8 × 8 football court, and two tennis and basketball courts. It operates with considerably high energy consumption due to the lack of any measure towards its energy efficiency improvement since its initial construction in 2002. Due to the significantly high heating cost, the swimming pool centre remains operative only during the summer period. The energy performance upgrade of the facility was holistically approached through all possibly applicable passive and active measures: insulation of opaque surfaces and replacement of openings, construction of a new, bioclimatic enclosure for the swimming pool’s centre and conversion of the current outdoor facility to an indoor one, installation of heat pumps for indoor space conditioning and swimming pool heating, installation of a solar–combi system for domestic hot water production, upgrade of all indoor and outdoor lighting equipment and installation of a photovoltaic plant on the new enclosure’s roof for the compensation of the remaining electricity consumption. With the proposed measures, the municipal sports centre is upgraded to a zero energy facility. The payback period of the investment was calculated at 14 years on the basis of the avoided energy procurement cost. The swimming pool’s centre operation is prolonged during the entire annual period. This work has been funded by the Horizon 2020 project with the acronym “NESOI” and was awarded the public award of the “Islands Gamechanger” competition of the NESOI project and the Clean Energy for EU Islands initiative. Full article

Sport participation and physical activity promotion have been intensively studied, especially regarding large cities. However, in many cases, rural municipalities have comparatively reduced services, including health care, due to the low profitability that these have for companies and entities. In this sense, the purpose of this article was to describe a case study of the promotion of physical activity in rural areas based on the results of a European project. Carried out in a rural municipality of around 8500 inhabitants with a population density of less than 25 inhabitants/km², the project’s purpose was the promotion of autonomous physical activity among its inhabitants. For this, a diagnostic analysis of the sports areas of the environment and a survey of physical activity habits among the population were carried out. A series of routes were designed, marked, and signposted, and canopies with explanatory posters about the possibilities of healthy physical activity and recommendations were added. Free-use facilities were installed, and opening events were carried out in such a way as to stimulate sports practice among the population. This article presents the results obtained from the analysis, as well as the possibilities of replication in other municipalities with similar needs. Full article

Canadian, municipally funded recreation/sport facilities typically have unhealthy food environments. Ontario, unlike some provinces, lacks a voluntary recreation facility nutrition policy. This study assessed the healthfulness of food environments and vending sales in 16 Ontario recreation/sport facilities and, secondarily, compared data from facilities within municipalities that banned versus permitted plastic bottled-water sales (water-ban, n = 8; water, n = 8) to test the nutritional effects of environmental policy. Concession and vending packaged food/beverage offerings and vending sales were audited twice, eighteen months apart. The products were categorized using nutrition guidelines as Sell Most (SM), Sell Sometimes (SS), and Do Not Sell (DNS). Both water and water-ban facilities offered predominantly (>87%) DNS packaged food items. However, proportions of DNS and SM concession and vending beverages differed (p < 0.01). DNS beverages averaged 74% and 88% of vending offerings in water and water-ban facilities, respectively, while SM beverages averaged 14% and 1%, respectively. Mirroring offerings, DNS beverages averaged 79% and 90% of vending sales in water versus water-ban facilities. Ontario recreation/sport facilities provided unhealthy food environments; most food/beverage offerings were energy-dense and nutrient-poor. Water bans were associated with increased facility-based exposure to DNS beverage options. A nutrition policy is recommended to make recreation facility food/beverage environments healthier and to mitigate unintended negative consequences of bottled-water bans. Full article

The aim of this study is to analyze the validity and reliability of the scale of competences of sports managers (COSM) in the Chilean context. The adaptation of the COSM to Spanish was carried out in accordance with the international methodological standards. A Spanish pilot version of the instrument was then administered to 33 municipal sports managers, whose comments on the instructions and the way the articles were written resulted in minor changes. Finally, this last version was empirically applied to 212 municipal sports managers (82.5% men and 17.5% women) from 129 city councils in 16 regions of Chile who participated. The original instrument consisted of 31 items grouped in six dimensions. The analyses carried out to check the psychometric properties of the scale determined the grouping of the indicators in three dimensions, retaining 22 items from the original proposal. The new factors were: Sports and Facilities Use Regulation (12 items), Budget Management (five items), and Communication Skills (five items). The scale presented adequate goodness-of-fit indices according to the parameters recommended by the literature, as well as optimal values of the different reliability measures. The use of this instrument will contribute to the process of diagnosis of competences in sport managers, with the purpose of planning relevant and contextualized training strategies that aim at improving skills and knowledge related to professional work. Likewise, the instrument can be used by the Chilean academic community in research processes involving sport managers’ competences. Full article

The aim was to examine how proximity to facilities, as a component of community determinants, is associated with the health-related habits of functionally independent community-dwelling older adults. This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. Participants were >65 years old, living in 15 municipalities of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain). Proximity to park-green spaces, cultural-sport centers, market-food stores, retirement associations, religious centers, primary care centers and hospitals was explored. Sociodemographic variables and health-related habits (diet, physical activity and self-perceived social life) were collected. Logistic regression models were performed. The sample comprised of 634 individuals (55% women; mean age: 74.8, SD 6.7 years). Older age (odds ratio-OR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91–0.97) was associated with lower physical activity, while being male (OR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.08–2.68) and proximity to park-green spaces (OR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.03–2.61) were related to more physical activity. Individuals with good self-perceived health (OR: 3.50, 95% CI: 1.82–6.74) and religious centers within walking distance (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.40–5.04) had higher odds of a satisfactory social life. Encouraging the creation of park-green spaces and leisure centers near residential areas can assist in promoting physical activity and improving the social life of older adults. Full article

This article aims to present the results from studies on the energy performance upgrade of buildings and facilities located in Crete, Greece, in a typical Mediterranean climate. In Mediterranean islands, the most buildings remain uninsulated, classified in C or even lower energy performance rank. In this article four reference buildings and one sports facility are investigated: a residential building, a municipality building, a school building, a museum and the Pancretan Stadium. Detailed calculations based on the computational simulation of each examined facility were executed, giving accurate results on the heating and cooling loads, both for the existing conditions and after the integration of the proposed passive measures. Thorough dimensioning and energy calculations have been executed for specific active energy systems too, particularly proposed for each examined case. With this parametric approach, the article indicates the effect and the economic efficiency of the proposed active or passive measures for each examined facility, expressed with specific key performance indicators. The common conclusion for all investigated cases is the huge margin for energy saving, which can reach 65% with regard to the existing annual consumptions. The payback period of the introduced energy upgrade measures can be as low as 15 years. Full article

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between the physical activity (PA) undertaken by two groups of residents living in Poland and Norway, and projects run by their respective local authorities. A secondary goal is to determine PA levels in the studied social groups. Two representative groups (one from each country) were examined using a diagnostic survey, supported by questionnaires and interviews. The Polish cohort consisted of 382 respondents who were residents of 11 municipalities in the Kalisz district of the Greater Poland voivodship. The Norwegian cohort was made up of 378 residents of 8 Indre Sogn municipalities from the Sogn og Fjordane region. Norwegians are twice as physically active as Poles and assess their municipal sport and recreation facilities to be much better. There is no statistically significant relationship between Polish and Norwegian PA levels in the two studied groups and their positive views on the impact of their local governments’ projects to promote PA. Statistically significant correlations occurred between the frequency of PA undertaken, the time pattern of class unit, MET level (metabolic equivalent) and the declared use of the sport and recreation facilities of the two communities. Both groups are more willing to be active outdoors than indoors and thus municipal authorities should take particular care about the state of outdoor sports and recreation infrastructure. An innovative and original action model is presented to assist local authorities in their attempts to raise PA levels in their communities. Full article