Parallel Session 10, Events Track: Fostering Community Support for Mega Events: A Narrative Inquiry of Social Impacts Experienced as a Result of Hosting the FIFA 2010 World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa

Purpose This paper uses some results from the author\u27s PhD thesis and aims to explore, understand and interpret the social impacts experienced in Green Point, Cape Town during the FIFA 2010 World Cup; it provides knowledge on how the event influenced a legacy of community togetherness, and how community experiences from this event impact community support for mega events in this African society. Mega events have become popular because of their universal appeal, grandiose nature and capacity to engender lasting legacies that offer the host community an opportunity to unite in celebration, generate international exposure and develop the locale (Roche, 2002). These reasons make hosting mega events appealing not only to developing countries beset with social issues (e.g. South Africa and the enduring effects of the apartheid era), but also to developed countries. Germany, for instance, through the FIFIA 2006 World Cup achieved positive social impacts that contributed to the lasting legacy of social unification and reimaging of the destination (Kersting, 2007). Thus, mega events have developed into one of the most significant discussions in festival studies (Maharaj, 2015). Whilst social impacts can positively affect quality of life, mega events can also produce negative social impacts that result in overcrowding, marginalisation and gentrification (Preuss, 2015). For instance, Cooper (2012) found that gentrification during the London 2012 Olympics caused an increase in housing value, thus displacing lower-income community members. Therefore, negative social impacts can upset social wellbeing and result in the loss of community support through event criticism, protests and lack of community cooperation. Despite the possible negative effects, meaningful mega events remain effective vehicles that provide a festive atmosphere where positive social impacts can be realised, local cultures displayed, communities rebuilt and a sense of togetherness engendered; thus fostering community support for mega events. This study aims to explore, interpret and understand community support for mega events in Green Point. In pursuit of this objective, this study recognises the host community\u27s willingness to lend an event the uniqueness of their location and distinct way of life, as a form of community support (Colloredo-Mansfeld, 2011). Gaining these unique features can help the event to distinguish itself from other events, and afford the event an occasion to showcase the uniqueness of the host community\u27s way of life. Therefore, it is of importance to understand the nature of social impacts experienced in Green Point, exploring the extent to which a legacy of community togetherness was created, and the extent those experiences have affected community support of future mega events. The knowledge interpreted from this exploration is to provide the reader an experience-based perspective that communicates the significance of hosting the 2010 World Cup in Green Point, contributing an understanding to what happened, when it happened, where it happened, the characters involved and the objective of the action. The interpretive process provides meaningful insight towards understanding the social reality of the experience; contributing new understanding of community support. Design/methodology/approach This study used narrative inquiry to explore and recapitulate people\u27s lived experiences from the FIFA 2010 World Cup in Green Point. The approach follows the assemblies of qualitative methodology, and provided the researcher a different platform to access people\u27s lived experiences, gaining unreserved access to their thoughts and outlooks. The sample composition consisted of 17 respondents based on purposive sampling. Green Point was the host community and its community members were the individuals most influenced by the social impacts of the event in the city of Cape Town. Narrative stories ordinarily yield rich data and therefore, this sample composition was enough to gain far-reaching stories. The researcher asked a single open-ended question following the unstructured nature of narratives stories, and did not interrupt because the goal was to listen to the story, with the exception of probing questions to encourage further conversation. This was to the benefit of the researcher because unsolicited information that was invaluable to this exploration was gathered. Findings The findings in this study lend authority to the knowledge that mega events can be hosted by communities from developing nations toward achieving positive social impacts such as unity and communal pride; thus promising a lasting legacy of social restoration and togetherness. The knowledge uncovered is significant in revealing how the community of Green Point was bound together over the shared experience of the 2010 World Cup. Additionally, the effect of togetherness was observed to be a reduction in social resistance toward mega events, and instead, a perceived increase in community support for mega events. Research limitations/implications This study makes a methodological contribution to the exploration of community experiences of mega events through the use of narrative inquiry. This approach contributes storytelling as a means to sense making of social behaviour through the interpretation of community experiences. By gaining an understanding of community feelings and outlooks from stories attached to the experience of the FIFA World Cup in a developing nation, new interpretations that can contribute to a different understanding of mega events\u27 social impacts and legacies have been generated. This provides an understanding of how community support might be fostered for future mega events. It is important to note that although the researcher would have liked to hear the stories of community members living across the entirety of Green Point, limitations in resources and time meant that only the experiences of a subset of the population could be collected. Practical implications The task to identify the legacy effect from social impacts of mega events remains important to researchers, policy makers and practitioners because the ability to identify and interpret meaning in experiences of community members can contribute knowledge toward understanding how communities can be bound together over the experience of a mega event. Moreover, this knowledge can provide understanding to how social impacts affect community support for mega events. Originality/value This study shows that hosting worthy mega events in developing nations can result in a community that shares a communal sense of pride and togetherness. The findings reveal that effective mega events leave the host community motivated to support the hosting of additional mega events because of the positive social impacts experienced; thus upholding the idea that if hosted properly, the positive impacts and useful benefits such as social togetherness and willingness to host more mega events will be generated. References Colloredo‐Mansfeld, R. (2011). Work, cultural resources, and community commodities in the global economy. Anthropology of Work Review, 32(2), 51-62. Cooper, J. (2012, July 1st). Price rise for ‘affordable\u27 housing puts Olympic legacy under threat. The Independent. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/ [Accessed 14th June 2017]. Kersting, N. (2007). Sport and national identity: A Comparison of the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. Politikon, 34(3), 277-293. Maharaj, B. (2015). The turn of the south? Social and economic impacts of mega-events in India, Brazil and South Africa. Local Economy, 30(8), 983-999. Preuss, H. (2015). A framework for identifying the legacies of a mega sport event. Leisure Studies, 34(6), 643-664. Roche, M. (2002). Mega events and modernity: Olympics and expos in the growth of global culture. Routledge