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By capturing and valuing the social benefits, through a Social Return on Investment framework, Urbis was able to demonstrate a very strong return on investment for the council and to illustrate how the precinct will strengthen the community.
But the real value of the facility may well come in other, less obvious, ways. For example, the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation highlights that “participation in sport and physical activity delivers benefits beyond improvements in physical and mental health, with evidence that communities as a whole are strengthened.” Healthy, harmonious communities have strong social connections and links, and exhibit a high level of inclusion, co-operation and participation across all community groups.
If the local government can, together with sporting clubs, deliver after school sports programs for kids, they can potentially improve the health of a generation and perhaps enable parents to work outside school hours.
Infrastructure is an investment in communities – a well designed playground can act as a catalyst to bring families together.
Urbis recently assessed the economic and social potential of a new sports ground in Western Sydney. The 500-seat stadium and sporting facility is in an area of high cultural diversity, lower than average socio-economic well-being and high incidence of obesity and diabetes. Sport can play a very significant role in the region.
Here are some of the benefits assessed:
- An increase in economic activity in and around the sports precinct through attendance at team events including training sessions, and trial games, attendance at community programmes, and through community use of the facilities, including competitions that bring more people into the area
- Positive social and health impacts across the community through increased participation in sport and community pride engendered by the presence of a major sporting club
- An increase in the productivity of regional transport infrastructure as a result of attendance at Wests Tigers events and sporting competitions
- Enhancing the region’s attractiveness as a place to live and work, assisting the NSW Government’s vision of fostering economically efficient regional centres, with a focus on Western Sydney.
By capturing and valuing the social benefits, through a Social Return on Investment framework, Urbis was able to demonstrate a very strong return on investment for the council and to illustrate how the precinct will strengthen the community.
The final design of the sports facility and precinct will be critical to ensuring access and inclusiveness so that all the potential benefits are delivered.
Embracing the idea that infrastructure delivers social outcomes, as well as economic and environmental ones, will help governments to optimise investments and deliver better outcomes for people and communities.
This article first appeared in New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Vol. 31/11, Trends Publishing on 11 December 2015. Please click here to read the original article (ebook) or click here for the web version.
