The relationship between sports and urban development
It is generally believed that modern sports originated in Britain in the18th century, and Britain was also the first industrialized country in the world. This is no coincidence, because the development of modern sports depends on scientific sports medical knowledge, perfect sports facilities and mass communication technology, as well as the organizational communication and consultation system of civil society-all of which are the products of modernity brought about by the industrial revolution.
In addition, almost all the industrialization and modernization processes in the world take place in cities, so modern sports are closely related to the development of cities. No matter which country in the East or the West, whether it is competitive sports, commercial sports or mass sports, the more developed a city is, the better its sports development will be. Therefore, sports is an activity more suitable for cities, that is, the urbanization of sports.
The popularization and promotion of modern sports in cities has a deeper social connotation. Karl Heinrich Bate, a German sports sociologist, pointed out from the macro-theoretical point of view that this kind of "mass sports" is the inevitable result of social process.
The lifestyle of modern cities leads to the gradual alienation and indifference between people, and cities often make people feel "lost" and lose their passion and motivation. Therefore, sports are more popular with urban people and become a way to complete personality liberation and self-expression. People have to find space for entertainment, games and physical exercise in their busy lives, and eventually form a kind of urban (space) movement.
It is under the joint influence of the two trends of "sports urbanization" and "urban sports" that the relationship between sports and urban development is getting closer and closer. The empirical research shows that sports can not only have an important impact on urban identity and community construction at the socio-psychological level, but also promote the diversification and differentiation of cities. Germany is one of the countries that attach great importance to the development of sports, and started the national sports infrastructure construction plan very early. The Ministry of Urban Construction and Development of the federal government will also issue an official research report, which is devoted to the issue of "sports facilities and urban development".
Development course of mass sports in Germany
Germany is a typical country with popular sports development, and there are a large number of folk sports associations. Germany Olympic Sports Bund (20 15) has more than 90,000 registered societies and more than 27 million registered members, accounting for 34% of the total population. In addition, there are more than120 thousand people who are not registered, but often participate in sports (Germany's total population is about 82 million). The development of mass sports in Germany can be roughly divided into three periods: (1) the pre-industrial revolution; (2) During the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars; (3) Post-war recovery period.
Before the industrial revolution in Germany, sports were mainly organized by the people spontaneously. Popular mass sports activities at that time mainly included archery, swimming, horseback riding, hunting and long jump. Especially in the late Middle Ages, due to the decline of chivalry, archery organizations prevailed among the German people and gradually developed into the embryonic form of modern sports clubs. At the end of 18, a group of famous philosophers and educators emerged in Germany. They think that sports is as important as intelligence, and it is the basic guarantee to maintain the independence of individuals and countries. This concept of sports laid a theoretical foundation for mass sports in Germany.
Germany immediately ushered in the first industrial revolution and urbanization after the unification of 187 1. Due to heavy physical labor and environmental pollution, the physical quality of German citizens began to deteriorate. In order to improve this situation, the German imperial government issued relevant laws and regulations, built mass stadiums by administrative order, and encouraged the public to participate in outdoor sports activities. 1896, Berlin established a tourism organization called Wandernvogel. Driven by "migratory birds", a hiking wind of returning to nature has sprung up in all parts of Germany, and it has rapidly developed into a "migratory bird" movement with the participation of the whole people. These regulations and measures undoubtedly played an important role in promoting the development of mass sports in Germany, especially laid a solid foundation for the establishment of sports clubs in various parts of Germany. Unfortunately, the newly emerging mass sports were quickly distorted by the two world wars, and the purpose of sports became the source of soldiers for rulers to launch aggressive wars.
After World War II, Germany was divided into two countries, East and West, and sports also showed significant differences under two different political systems. After the war, West Germany made brilliant economic achievements, and urbanization also achieved leap-forward development. By the early 1960s, the urbanization rate in West Germany had exceeded 70%. At the same time, the post-war sports policy in West Germany gradually developed from competitive sports to "national sports" and "family sports", emphasizing the functions of leisure and physical and mental health. Therefore, from 1960 to 1990, West Germany successively implemented the "Gardhner Plan" three times, the main content of which was to build a large number of stadiums in Germany to promote the development of national fitness activities.
Since 1960 implemented the first "Golden Plan" in West Germany, the sports infrastructure in West Germany has been significantly improved. As far as the number of national fitness centers is concerned, by the end of 1990, there were 65 132 fitness centers in West Germany, almost twice as many as in 1960. Influenced by the Soviet Union, East Germany's sports policy emphasizes "labor", "competition" and "collective spirit", which is in sharp contrast with West Germany's national sports. After reunification, Germany mainly carried out the sports development policy on the basis of the original West Germany, further popularized sports and promoted the implementation of the "East Germany Gold Plan".
German Citizen Autonomy and Community Sports
Germany adopts a highly autonomous community system to manage sports. Generally speaking, German sports associations are composed of sports federations at all levels, which play a leading role in the formulation and implementation of national sports policies and the allocation of sports resources. The federal government and the state government basically do not interfere in the management affairs of sports organizations except giving them some financial subsidies through sports lottery tickets, and fully guarantee their autonomous status.
Framework of German sports autonomous organization.
Sports clubs play an extremely important role in German sports autonomy. Hailmann, a famous German scholar, believes that a sports club is a free group characterized by free membership, taking members' interests as the criterion, not relying on a third party, voluntarily taking part in work and making democratic decisions. German sports clubs not only have absolutely independent financial rights, but also can use public sports infrastructure in towns for free.
Another feature of German sports development is community. There are a large number of community sports federations in various regions and cities in Germany, which play a key role in the construction and management of community sports infrastructure. According to the German Constitution, the state government has the responsibility to undertake the construction of sports infrastructure in urban communities.
In fact, the German state government not only provides financial support, but also provides consulting services. For example, the municipal and district governments in Germany are mainly responsible for the construction and maintenance of local sports and leisure facilities; Urban and community government services participate in the construction and maintenance of leisure facilities; City and community government services participate in the construction and maintenance of local sports and entertainment facilities and youth activity centers, and even help maintain the facilities of private sports clubs. At the same time, the management of German sports clubs is basically completed by local community residents through volunteer work.
Heidelberg's Green Sports Space
Heidelberg is a medium-sized city in Baden-Wü rttemberg, southwest Germany. Located in the center of the densely populated Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area in Germany, with a population of about10.5 million, it belongs to a typical German university town (such as Heidelberg University). Heidelberg has always been one of the most popular tourist cities in Germany, because it is located between the beautiful Neckar Valley and Odenwald, with a long history and splendid culture.
Heidelberg is also a green city, with an area of about 109k, of which 70% are green areas (forests, grasslands, parks, farmland, waters, etc. This unique natural resources and pleasant climate environment provide extremely favorable conditions for sports and leisure activities in Heidelberg. In fact, Heidelberg is a very frontier city in the development of sports in Germany, whether it is sports infrastructure or sports social organizations. Only in 20 13-20 14 years, Heidelberg's total investment in the sports field, including sports municipal facilities, reached 10 million euros. Moreover, these infrastructures are all public welfare, and citizens only need to pay a small admission fee to use them. In addition, parks and schools in the city also have many completely free sports facilities, the most common of which is Kinderspielplatz.
The sports infrastructure in Heidelberg has increased from 1970 to 20 13.
Informal outdoor physical exercise is a daily habit of Germans, and most of these activities are carried out in urban green spaces. A survey conducted by German sports sociologist Huebner and others in large and medium-sized cities in western Germany shows that about 58% of sports and leisure activities are carried out in informal sports spaces, among which the most popular are urban parks, forests, country lanes and open waters, which are called green spaces.
Heidelberg's ample green space undoubtedly provides the public with an excellent outdoor sports venue. The following article mainly expounds the valuable experience of Heidelberg in how to use urban green space as a sports ground through reasonable planning and management from four aspects: urban forest, rural trails, rivers and parks.
(1) urban forest
40% of the urban land in Heidelberg is forest vegetation. Forest is not only a valuable landscape resource in Heidelberg, but also provides a place for citizens to exercise and relax. As early as after World War II, the municipal authorities of Heidelberg began to plan and transform the urban forests, and opened up a forest trail (Waldweg) of about 300 kilometers, which was mainly used for public hiking, jogging and cycling, among which the most famous Heidelberg hiking trail was Philosophenweg next to Neckar. Forest paths are usually interconnected into a network. In order to facilitate sports enthusiasts to find routes, the intersections of forest trails generally have detailed road signs, and even fixed travel route signs planned by professional clubs. Travelers can reach their expected destination as long as they follow specific road signs.
Road map of forest hiking routes in some cities of Heidelberg.
Nowadays, the local sports club has launched a new network service, where users can query and plan their hiking routes, download maps and GPS navigation information through the website (Regioausflug.de).
Indicating sign Heidelberg forest trail.
(2) Pastoral path
Although Germany is a highly urbanized country, it still retains a lot of agricultural land in and around the city, which is called "Urbane Landwirtschaft". Heidelberg has 183 1h farmland. Because of the star-shaped distribution of the city, all the communities in the city are close to the farmland in the suburbs. Urban countryside has naturally become an important place for citizens to exercise and relax. Germany's cultivated land is private property, but in order to provide sports venues for citizens, the municipal authorities have planned and built very flat country roads between farmland, and some roads can even be opened to traffic.
As a "civil contract" guaranteed by law, citizens can walk, run, pulley and ride bicycles on farm roads, but they must not damage or steal farm crops.
(3) Urban rivers
Like many other cities, Heidelberg is a city developed on the basis of Neckar. Neckar runs through the city center from east to west. On the one hand, it provides very valuable landscape resources for the city, such as the famous ancient bridge in Heidelberg. On the other hand, the river itself is also the best place for citizens to exercise and relax. Neckar is a public space completely open to the public. Rowers can use the river freely by registering the type of boats they use in Heidelberg. Every summer, family or club boats and yachts will appear in urban rivers, including the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Heidelberg. At the same time, neckarwege for pedestrians and bicycles has been opened on both sides of Neckar.
Due to the unique canyon natural scenery and ancient urban buildings, the hiking route around Neckar is the most popular one for sports lovers and tourists. In addition, the municipal authorities have also planned a green buffer zone with a width of about 200~300m at the junction of the river and the city, which is completely open to the public and has gradually become the best place for young students to practice volleyball and frisbee.
Green sports space on the bank of Neckar River in Heidelberg.
(4) City parks
Every community in Heidelberg has a supporting park, and universities, hospitals, castles and other departments have a large number of park land. A large part of the park is outdoor sports infrastructure, such as small basketball courts, bunkers, gymnastics poles, swings and so on. The sports infrastructure of the community park is also completely open, and this small sports venue is very popular with community teenagers. More specifically, in order to facilitate civic movements, German law allows people to walk and exercise on public lawns. The design of Heidelberg City Park also pays great attention to the physical exercise needs of children and the disabled. Almost all the sports facilities in the park are designed for children's sports. Wheelchairs used by disabled people can easily enter the park sports venues without the help of others.
In addition, Heidelberg regularly holds urban sports every year, mainly including: city marathon, Heidelberg triathlon, Heidelberg Dragon Boat Festival, pulley race and so on. Sports events in these cities are attended by a wide range of citizens. Take the city marathon as an example. More than 3,000 people take part in the half race every year, and the number of people who take part in the whole marathon is as high as 1500, with more than tens of thousands of spectators. Moreover, the venues of these competitions are not dedicated, but held in urban open spaces, and the above-mentioned green spaces are especially the first choice for urban sports. The holding of these sports events not only greatly enhanced Heidelberg's influence, thus providing favorable conditions for the development of tourism and economy, but also encouraged and promoted citizens' enthusiasm for participating in sports and enhanced their physique.
In short, in Heidelberg, urban public space (especially green space) has largely become citizens' sports space, and this development and utilization is based on maintaining the integrity of the original ecology and benefiting all citizens, that is, a sustainable urban sports development model.
Summary and discussion
The successful experience of German sports "Golden Plan" shows that the development of modern sports from competitive sports to mass sports is the only way for the development of urban sports, and urbanization and sports popularization promote each other and develop synergistically. As a famous green city in Germany, Heidelberg has valuable practical experience in the comprehensive utilization of urban green space. Heidelberg uses its rich green resources (such as forests, pastoral areas, rivers, etc.). Through reasonable planning and development, urban green space will be transformed into a sports space that is generally welcomed by the citizens. This process is not only reflected in the construction of sports facilities by city authorities, but also in the formulation of laws and the promotion of citizen participation.
Of course, due to the different national conditions and social development levels, the model of German urban sports development may not be completely applicable to China, but for urban planning, the German experience has great reference value. In China's current urban planning practice, there are still some deficiencies in the open sports space of the city, especially how to comprehensively plan and utilize green space.
The author He Jinliao is an associate researcher at the Human Geography Research Center of Nanjing University. Zhang Xiufeng, Ph.D. in Sociology, Darmstadt University of Technology, is a visiting researcher at the Research Center of Shanghai University School of Physical Education. Sammul Chan is a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Heidelberg. This article was originally published in International Urban Planning No.5, 20 17.
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