Theorising the Relationship between Major Sport Events and Social Sustainability

The triple-bottom line of economic efficiency, environmental integrity and social equity is meant to be used to measure progress towards sustainable development. As major sport events are now used as part of public policy, these events and their legacies have been subjected to related analysis. However, as with more general evaluations, the scrutiny of major events has tended to neglect the social dimension. Major events projects are often justified with reference to their role in addressing urban inequity and promoting collective identities, whilst also criticised for their questionable ethics. This suggests more attention to social sustainability is urgently required. In this paper, the aim is to assess whether major sport events meet the social needs of present and future generations. The intention is not merely to the reveal the social outcomes resulting from previous events, but to review theoretical perspectives through which those effects can be understood. This facilitates understanding of why certain effects occur, rather than merely if they occur.