The Evolution of the Stadium Typology Abstract: This paper aims to explore how stadia’s influence on the built environment is evolving with specific reference to stadiums in Manchester.
Name : Patrick Lyth Manchester University ID: 76276682 Supervisor: Dominic Sagar Email address: 10983413@stu.mmu.ac.uk
Contents: 1-4
Introduction
6-8
Literature Review Empirical Chapters:
10-16
18-22
Chapter 1 - The Genealogy of Football Stadia in Manchester 1.1 - Old Trafford 1.2 - ‘Sportscity’ 1.3 - The Comparison
Chapter 2 - The Metropolis of the Stadium 2.1 - The Stadium as a Tool for Metropolis 2.2 - Generational Stadia 2.3 - Application to Manchester
24-26
Chapter 3 - Case Study: Barcelona 3.1 - Olympics as an Ideological Apparatus 3.2 - Comparison to Sportcity’s Model
28-32
Chapter 4 - The Functionality of Stadiums 4.1 - The importance of Functionality 4.2 - The Panoptican 4.3 - The ‘Big Eye’ 4.4 - Resolution
33-36
Chapter 5 - The Stadium and Society
38 39-40 42
5.1 - The Paradigm 5.1 - Emerging Fields of Globalisation
Conclusion Bibliography List of Figures Appendix:
45-50
Interview Transcripts
51-52
Interviewee Consent Forms
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Introduction: The symbolic nature of stadia has always automatically generated a pretense of positive connotations for urban development in the area. The constant globalisation, and the expansion in the functionality of stadia developments, generates the need for more investigation into the impact of the immediate urban context they lie within. This paper aims to evaluate and question this symbolic nature of the stadia, using theoretical frameworks when and where appropriate in addition to examining chosen empirical data, to analyse and invigorate a conclusion to whether the globalisation1 has positive, or negative, effects of the functionality of the stadium and the built environment.
to the immediate surrounding built environment they lie within.
‘Manchester’s contribution to the arts, science, medicine, political thinking and, not least, to commerce and industry, is thoroughly documented and widely acknowledged. But Manchester has also been extremely active, and influential, in the field of sport’ (10:Inglis et al., 2004)
In order to conduct this research, with acknowledgement to the time frame given, analytical research will be identified, such as ‘Super Output Areas’ (SOAs), which have already been used analytically to structure assumptions on the recent qualities of the environment that the stadia lies within.
The paper will use the City of Manchester as its main archetypal model to refer to due to the city itself being divided by two contrasting, global sport orientated establishments. One being ‘Old Trafford’2, which has gone through a series of master plans over its existence and the other, ‘Sportscity’3, whose parent club used to be housed at Maine Road until 2003. In the summer of 2003, Manchester City F.C. relocated to East Manchester into a 5th generation complex4. Due to the increasing demands for which the establishment must accommodate. The main theme of the investigation will convey topics such as; the genealogy of the identified stadiums as this will enable a critical and effective stance into constants, essentialisms, and the narratives of progress (143:Hillier and Healey, Huxley, 2010); the dynamics of globalisation and how this acts as a catalyst for radical development of the built environment5; the evolving functionality of the stadium; and the contribution of stadia developments 1 Globalisation in this paper here refers to the influx of economic power and the expansive geographical network it carries. 2 See Figure X 3 See Figure X 4 To be explained in the proceeding chapter 2.1. 5 The term ‘built environment’ for this paper refers solely to the master planning of physical structures in their contextual field.
Research in academia regarding these themes and the overall subject has been acknowledged, mainly the work by that of Bale, Sybille Frank and Silke Steets. This paper differentiates from their own work as the particular ideas that are identified concentrate solely on the scale of the stadium itself, nor does there seem to be any substantial empirical urban data analysed. The following paper will seek to celebrate the findings on the immediate context that the stadiums lie within, as well as the transformation of the stadium itself.
‘Super output areas (SOAs) were designed to improve the reporting of small area statistics and are built up from groups of output areas (OAs). Statistics for lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) and middle layer super output areas (MSOAs) were originally released in 2004 for England and Wales.’ (Office for National Statistics, 2011) ‘Super Output Areas’ are a certified method used by the government, and Manchester City Council (MCC) themselves, to analyse areas through attributes such as health and employment, to asses the demographics. It is important to stress here, that SOAs will be acknowledged not because it has a direct link with the architecture of stadia, but more so, a direct link to the performance of the built environment. However, one might argue the validity of the SOAs analysis it is under the auspices of normality which presumes constants and has assumptions on the qualities of demographics, whereas it might be more beneficial to acknowledge areas to their context rather than a subjective national standard. In terms of primary resources, this paper will explore the opinions from the open-ended interviews that I have instrumentalised with Tim Edensor and Steve Millington and meetings with the Head of Regeneration of East 2
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Manchester6. The interviewees themselves all work within the vicinity of Manchester and have all produced published works based upon the transformation of football in Manchester. This paper’s structure, following this introduction, will be composed initially with a literature review. This will aim to provide a critique of the research and theories that have influenced the main themes of the text in order to establish a foundation to the documentation’s main body. The empirical chapters will be the main body and argument of this paper. Chapter 1, ‘The Genealogy of Football Stadia in Manchester’, studies the genealogy of both the site and stadium of Old Trafford and ‘Sportscity’ in order to contextualise the proceeding chapters. The following chapter, ‘The Metropolis of the Stadium’, investigates how the stadium as a typology has developed into a urban planning tool through Rob Sheard’s generation theory and through its growth in functionality. Chapter 3 is a case study of the Barcelona Olympic games. The case itself is weighted in similarities in comparison to how ‘Sportscity’ has evolved but furthermore, it also provides a unique theoretical stance in its own context and how sports orientated stadia in that case was used as an urban regeneration tool. The penultimate chapter, chapter 4, explores more theoretical stances on how to understand the capability and ability of the stadium as a typology through conceptual thinking, and how this has been applied in Manchester. The concluding chapter, ‘Stadiums and Society’, acknowledges the theoretical stances and the understandings of what has occurred specifically in Manchester. It explores how the stadiums have been stitched into Manchester’s urban fabric and their effectiveness to change and develop societies with reference to other stadium examples. It is also important to note what themes this paper purposely avoids due to the ambiguity and confusion that intercalating certain theories upon theories will create. The built environment and the symbolic nature of stadia contributes heavily to the identity to the sense of place, however, ‘identity’ in this paper is eschewed for the purpose of clarification. ‘It (identity) implies possible signifiers of self, carry complex, shifting, frequently ambiguous and contradictory meaning.’ (29:Clegg, 2000) Due to the restrictions of the paper, such a theme would require clarification on what scale of identity and what actually creates identity, whether it is the built environment or based upon other characteristic attributes an area might uphold.
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Not named for legal reasons 4
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Literature Review: The study of the effects of globalisation on the built environment through using the stadium as a typology for a means of understanding has initially arisen from the approach of Sheard, R. His approach contemplates the chronological genealogy of the development of sports orientated stadia. The key points form his approach are that stadiums, in terms of their architecture, have undergone five generational shifts in order to adapt to new necessities set by social standards, mainly due to technological and socio-economic advances in the field. Moreover, other historical circumstances and politics have also shaped and influenced the development of the stadium as it stands today. Unfortunately, it is the failures of stadia that society has built upon - the disasters at Hillsborough, Ibrox and Valley Parade being the most prominent examples here7. ‘A stadium, more than any other building type in history, has the ability to shape a town or city… Consequently the stadium will become the most important building any community can own, and if it is used wisely, it will be the most useful urban planning tool a city can possess.’ (7:Sheard et al., 2005) Sheard emphasizes that the use of the stadium acting as a typology can also catalyse urban regeneration. It is argued that it is the zeitgeist that is personified in stadia typology is the reason for this (Sheard et al., 2005). This statement, I think, has only become valid recently due to the globalisation of sports orientated stadia. When the first stadiums were being built, they were arguably being integrated into terraced housing rather than generating an initiation of housing development. This also correlates to some degree as Sheard himself states that we are witnessing 4th and 5th generational stadiums, which become more than just a pitch and stands. They are integrated into the city, and in their own right, become small urban hubs of activity. This has certainly happened in the case of ‘Sportscity’ where significant investment into the built environment has occurred. It can also been demonstrated around Old Trafford. However, there is a distinct difference in the development of the said stadium’s masterplans. One was able to build upon a huge open brownfield site (‘Sportscity’), whereas the other finds itself built into, and grown into a dense urban environment (Old Trafford). Currently stadiums are acting more like ‘cities’. Therefore, it has a direct synergy and relationship with mixed
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See Chapter 3.1 for more detail.
elements such as residential, commercial and leisure as well as the transport infrastructure (John, 2000). These notable dynamics of stadium typology highlighted by Sheard are also emphasized by Frank and Steets who have orchestrated the book, Stadium Worlds which collaborates the thoughts on the current effects of stadia, of leading sociologists and geologists. From their approaches, it is notable to use the stadium as a specific typology in which to study certain aspects of urban development – i.e. how the stadium constitutes the spatial order and how it develops its own. How the stadium constitutes to its own existence and to the significance of the development of cities over time can be demonstrated through examples as early as the Coliseum. It is notable how the Coliseum was the focal point of Rome, but furthermore, it is more notable how the stadium’s significant global, economic and iconic nature, and its role within urbanised contexts, can be seen repeated with large stadium developments today. Frank and Streets, speak generally of cities as a whole using the stadium as a specific typology to understand how they can accelerate and ignite regeneration. It is understood here that globalisation of cities can only be deemed as a positive attribute, and that the stadium is the only typology which thrives in globalisation that enables both local culture and global developments to engage and interact with one another (Frank and Steets, 2010). The main body of the text will aim to evaluate the extent to how factual such suggestions can be as one criticism could be that arguably other typologies accelerate urban regeneration. Other questions are prompted at this stage as to what actually is urban regeneration? Could this only be applicable to certain sites/cities? Could it only be applicable to a niche selection of developments i.e. the sports establishments only with enough economic stability and power to be able to build ‘5th generation’ stadia? Certainly presumptions and assumptions at this stage are made. Surely such 4th/5th generational stadia development, like that of ‘Sportscity’, does intensify the immediate, built urban environment around them? The questions proposed are to what effect do they do this? And to question the positive connotations with urban regeneration – do they actually improve the ‘sense of place’ in a positive manner? 6
The contributors to Stadium Worlds offers a collaborative view of how the stadium can be used as a specific typology to understand and analyse how urban fields can operate. Although not all topics covered are appropriate to this paper, it provides an asset to the aim and structure of paper as it illustrates the significance of globalisation of the stadium in the current day can have on a heavily industrialised area. Such themes are also discussed by Bale, J. However, he argues that it the change in the stadium, with regards to its change in social hierarchal positioning over time, is the main causality to the effects stadiums can have on cities urban landscape as their significance has grown monumentally over the human period of existence. ‘(Stadia) can only generate a love of place, a sense of place loyalty, place bonding and other kinds of localism, but also how stadia have become what amount to sacred places, worthy, perhaps, of future protection and preservation like other revered monuments and buildings of yesteryear.’ (61:Bale 1993) It is these post-modern tendencies that have made, in Bale’s eyes, the stadia is such a significant actor in the role of the functioning city. Bale draws reference to applicable theory to understand how the stadium acts within the network of the city. Most intriguingly was the reference to Foucault’s work using Bentham’s prison (the Panoptican) as an analogy. The Panopticon elucidates the way in which discipline and punishment work in modern society (276: Sargiacomo, 2009). Bale’s reference of Foucault’s (1995) use of Bentham’s analogy of the panoptican gives a theoretical insight into the understanding the developmental role of how the stadium acts in the built environment in terms of its positive, or negative, impact as it ‘studies of the power of normalization and the formation of knowledge in modern society’ (308: Foucault, 1977c). Bale’s work, however, has more inclination to analysis of the scale of the stadium, rather that analysis of the immediate surrounding built environment. In addition to this, the reference is expressed in solely sociological terms. Although, having evaluated such possible denotations of the approach, the theme’s arrived from Bale’s writing invigorates broader phenomenological questions. The paper will take this theoretical stance of using the Panoptican analogy and expand upon it, to an extent, in order to understand the role of the stadiums in ‘Sportscity’ and Old Trafford. 7
The archetypal models of Old Trafford and ‘Sportscity’ have been highlighted to provide existing physical examples of globalisation. Arguably, the two said institutes represent how globalisation can effect not only the private establishments themselves, but also the environment, which they lie within. ‘Sportscity’ has found itself being utilised as the focal point of the regeneration scheme of the whole of East Manchester. Old Trafford, on the other hand, accounts for one of the largest global followings and finds itself in a very different position. Old Trafford is situated in a dense environment, so there are many more constraints for the capability of expandsion – especially to the same degree that ‘Sportscity’. Nonetheless, as the interview with both interviewees’ highlights that the built environment is being affected. Perhaps it is not the case that this has come from the establishment themselves, but from the globalisation which was allowed others to develop the built environment. Limited research, in terms of empirical analysis, has been utilised in the writings and approaches used for the construction of the themes used in this paper. There will, however, be some material reference whilst simultaneously using analytical diagrams throughout to analyse the varying dynamics. One of the databases this paper has highlighted for interrogation to analyse the effects on the environment is the use of ‘Super Output Areas’ (SOAs). SOAs were used as one of the main citations for the reasoning of a Compulsory Purchase Order of Miles Platting in 2007. Miles Platting is an area neighbouring ‘Sportscity’ which has undergone regeneration since the mid 1990s where the movement of regenerating the whole of East Manchester originated, with ‘Sportscity’ being the main focal point. This paper will discuss here the validity of SOAs, as the attributes that are analysed on are not directly related to the built environment. For example income, employment rates, health, education and crime are some of the aspects identified. Nonetheless, these overall readings do give an interpretation for the quality of space in the selected areas. It is important to note that the SOAs are a subjective method and have been criticised on where their standards set have originated. In summary, the boundaries of SOAs are determined by the population density with the lower threshold being 1300 people to an upper threshold of 2800 people. These areas are then analysed based on the aforementioned aspects. The standards set in these attributes, however, have been regularised by people who work in the government – and it is these opinions of theses standards that have been identified as one might argue that it is an imbalanced for standards set by people in government to rule the current state of generalised spaces. Nevertheless, with this generalisation stated, it is still a form of analysis into how well the areas are performing – which is concurrent to what Foucault states: ‘In a sense, the power of normalisation imposes homogeneity; but it individualizes by making it possible to measure gaps, to determine levels, to fix specialities and to render differences useful by fitting them one to another.’ (184:Foucault, 1977c) Open-ended interviews with Steve Millington and Tim Edensor, and the reference to meetings held with the Head of Regeneration, will also be used as primary sourcing. The main themes of discussion during these interviews were; the interviewees interpretation of the definition of globalisation, how this globalisation has effect Old Trafford/’Sportscity’, how it has effected the immediate built environment and their opinion on whether the developments are contributing to Manchester, or acting as ‘the Panoptican’ and creating more distance between the community and ‘economic powerhouses’ that control society. The writings and theories acknowledged for this paper have aided formation of the main body of the text. The dynamics of globalisation, such as its socio-political, socio-economical, socio-cultural and socio-spatial have been explored and the themes arisen from this. How the stadium acts as a panoptican? How stadia ignite intensification to the development of the immediate built environment? How advances demographically, whether it is technological advances, gender, class or religion, have affected the stadium’s traditional necessities and transformed into modern visionaries? Do the designs of the past become not only obsolete, but act as a barrier to igniting and intensifying regeneration or developments in the built environment? Does the current regeneration hold importance, or is there a clash between local cultures and globalisation?
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Chapter 1 The Genealogy of Football Stadia in Manchester The dynamics of modern development of stadiums, in general, are evidently producing, creating and adapting the functionality of stadiums within cities (33:Frank and Steets, 2010). One of Manchester’s fundamental driving functionalities is it ability to host two of the worlds biggest football establishments – Manchester United F.C. ad Manchester City F.C – so, to what extent do, and how do, these dynamical institutes effect the built environment they lie within? The initial approach to this will explore both stadiums through their genealogy. The term genealogy is often referred in town planning as a mean of enabling an ontological position, of the said subjects, in which a critique of the ‘constants, essentialisms and teleological narratives of progress’ (135:Huxley:Hillier and Healey, 2010) can be formed. 1.1 Old Trafford: Firstly Old Trafford, which is located three miles to the west of the centre of Manchester. Figure XX that illustrates the growth of functionality of space surrounding Old Trafford. The diagram illustrates how the land in the 1840s was predominately undeveloped land and mostly used as farmland which then developed due to industrialisation and over time became the hugely developed land that it is today. What is important to note, however, is that the area of Old Trafford use to be somewhat of a ‘Sportscity’ of its time. Large amounts of the area around where the stadium is located today used to be filled predominately with cricket grounds amongst other sports grounds such as tennis and bowling clubs. These areas were dramatically changed in correlation with the industrial development of the canal with many bought out to make way for industrial units whilst the stadiums own peripheral boundary remained constant. This illustrates Old Trafford has not directly, or politically, influenced the shape of the built environment around it, but it emphasises that the stadium has remained a constant landmark within the field8 and how the stadium itself has since become confined to its boundary.
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The term field here refers to Stan Allen’s theory of object to field. To summarise, the theory is based on how we should perceive an area of interest not by placing a boundary around it, but by understanding that there are many external influences to a specific place, and therefore, in a sense it boundary is boundless. This enables a discussion on a wider spectrum of a building’s influences.
Old Trafford as a stadium has undergone three master plans during its existence (Inglis et al., 2004). Archibald Leitch developed the first master plan of the stadium when he developed the construction plans for an 80,000 (standing) capacity stadium, costing £60,000. The stadium was completed and opened in 1910. This development, although made to hold 80,000 people, was not a master plan in such that it contextualised its spatial environment around the ground, but one that concentrated on solely being able to stage that number of people. Through external circumstances, Old Trafford subsequently went through more transformations. The first being the reconstruction after its bombing during the war, and the second being Atherden Nutter’s developmental strategy of the stadium due to new policies such as all-seater stadium’s and canter levered roof technological developments being implemented. Each of these master plans have signified new and political regime (29:Frank and Steets, 2010). Arguably, however, a critique of the master plans is that they restrict themselves to their boundary. Strategically speaking, the stadiums of the modern day are seeking to expand beyond their boundary, but without the knowledge of this when Old Trafford was going through its first developments; the stadiums initial developments in themselves have become a hindrance to its future development. Although, hindrance may be the wrong term as we can see the stadium is still able to compete at the highest level in terms of its developments as Millington also argued during the interview. ‘The ground (Old Trafford) is surrounding by in10
1.2
1840s 1890s
dustry and infrastructure as well and that’s a big problem for them, you know there’s a canal on both sides and the railway line…Basically what enabled them to become a globally successfully club in the 80s and 90s was through branding and shirt sales, international fans etc and then to get money through the gate, despite what you say (after me suggesting the confinement of the site is perhaps a hindrance) it’s the biggest football stadium outside Wembley. But that’s it, they cant go any further with that unless they start moving canals and railway lines which makes that really costly. What I do know is that they have been involved in site acquisition around the ground so they’re buying up vacated industrial plots, and there has been kind of some public improvements around there like a hotel there now, but clearly there’s a synergy between them.’ (Millington,S:2015)
gave the platform for such master plans to take place a
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See figure X See figure X
1920s 1970s 2015
In comparison to the development of Manchester United F.C., Manchester City F.C. has taken the opportunity to continue the progression of their stadium master plan through moving to a more opportunistic site in 2003. Manchester City F.C. was located at Maine Road in the heart of a densely compact terraced housing division9. However, ‘as a result of their economic marginality clubs are talking more and more about ground sharing and relocation, usually meaning suburbanization in synthetic stadium complexes’ (2:Bale, 1993). The establishment moved to East Manchester, which was a 146-hectare brownfield site – the largest brownfield site to be regenerated in the UK. The site had already benefitted from the developments of the Commonwealth Games, which gave the site iconography, and as a result the area was given with the title ‘Sportscity’. The area, however, had to be adapted for the slight change in ownership and functionality with the stadium’s capacity being reformed within the stadium, but also with later developments such as the fan zone and the megastore. Due to the success of these, we can already witness a third master plan occurring with yet another expansion of the stadium, in terms of its capacity, and also its training facilities which are being built on a site adjacent (Inglis et al., 2004). The foundations of the land surrounding this development10
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Sportscity:
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Industrial Amenities Commerical
Water
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Recent development such as the new leisure centre and the new Connell sixth form in Beswick are great exemples of what has been produced, particularly in reference to the built environment surrounding the stadium. These developments are also contributing to better quality space statistically with the Super Output Areas indicating that the scores for the indices for deprivation improving providing a suggestion that improvements are already taking place in the area.
1900s
‘From a planning perspective, it was really odd. It was in this vast industrial space. But gradually more and more, more things recruit to it. Things like the sculptures the memorial garden, the fan zone and have course more recently this extraordinary complex which is amazing. The city council was thrilled with that as you have all this money going in.’ (Edensor, T:2015)
1840s
vast amounts of brownfields sites left from industrialised sites can be taken advantage of. This master plan has, since the stadium was leased to M.C.F.C., undoubtedly generated more development within the area.
Green Space Sports Facillites Old Trafford
But we can also see similarities in that each development underwent stages of development due to the growing postmodern necessities of both establishments. This has increased the territorialized space with political drivers also having a great influence (Bale, 1993b). External factors, such as political policies as Bale suggested have influenced the built form of both stadiums and how they shape the space surrounding them. Several disasters
1970s
‘I think what you’ve seen in Manchester is the end of the old and the beginning of the new (referring here to Old Trafford and ‘Sportscity’) in terms of how global football clubs kind of organise their business model.’ (Millington, S:2015)
2015
As illustrated by the description of the developments of the stadia in Manchester, the biggest contrasting element of the said stadiums is that one has stayed as a constant in its location – Manchester United F.C., and the other, Manchester City F.C. has taken the initiative to move to East Manchester on a large brownfield site.
1920s
Comparison:
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that have occurred in the past 50 years in Britain have shaped safety regulations for stadia nationally. The key tragedies that took place began in 1971 when sixty-six people died as a result of a collapsing staircase that could not hold the required amount of people at the Ibrox stadium in Glasgow. This was followed several years later by two events that happened two weeks apart. The first occurred at Bradford City’s stadium, where the traditional timber frame constructed stadium caught fire and collapsed causing fifty-six people to die. The second – and what seemed to be the defining catastrophe that eclipsed all other disasters and prompted urgent action - occurred at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, where 96 people were crushed to death. This disaster prompted urgent action not only because it was starting to be come a realisation that the stadiums should become more regulated but also because there has since been huge uproar about how those 96 deaths could have potentially been prevented if the stadium had been regulated properly as during the occurrence, emergency services were not able to access the casualties. As a result of this, and the subsequent tragedies, Lord Justice Taylor produced a report suggesting significant changes in the quality and safety of stadiums. This document proved to serve a fundamental role in the development and parameters of stadiums. Taking these external factors into consideration, albeit with them contributing to the areas becoming increasingly regimented, the establishments themselves have acted as catalysts in the regeneration by bringing more investment into the area. However, as Millington argued, it is not their direct influence that is the main driver for more regeneration in the area but their iconography. ‘I think stadiums can play a bigger role in their city through their iconography, you look at the Nou Camp, the Allianz Arena, you know these become iconic stadiums, they are as recognisable as the Eiffel tower, and that’s important for places like Manchester to have this advantage. So although the economic advantages are probably unite minimal, you’re probably better off having a neighbourhood of small to medium manufacturing business, that’s going to be more sustainable in one sense. It does however have that uniqueness; it attracts people to a place people don’t really go to. Its important how the local community feeds into that. One outcome is that there’s a functioning housing community but you’re talking about an area which has suffered severely from housing market failure…is that the football? Not directly, but it has certainly contributed to the regeneration of that area, but it’s a long-term project as well.’ (Millington, S:2015) Manchester’s indices of deprivation is ranked in the top four of England (according to the Super Output Areas ranking) and, especially in East Manchester where the regeneration scheme is happening under the influence of ‘Sportscity’, places are ranked to be in the top 2% (hence why there is a regeneration scheme taking place). One way of emphasising the importance of the influences of the stadiums in Manchester is to ask the question, what would happen if we were to omit the stadiums from the city? What would the indices of deprivation be then? Presumably lower. The element of iconography is pivotal not only to the fields they are located within, but to the city as a whole.
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Chapter 2 The Metropolis of the Stadium
A stadium is a unique typology (1:Frank and Steets, 2010) within the city and it is not just Manchester that benefits from stadia within the city. We can see many exemplars of stadium developments aiding the quality of cities illustrated by Inglis in the publication he produced whilst touring the world to see what they mean to their given cultures. On his excursion to Chicago, Inglis witnessed the impact of Wrigley Field (home to the local baseball team), ‘…The revival was not confined to within the walls of Wrigley Field… Smart developers started to buy up and gentrify old buildings. Rents in the district rocketed.’ (91:Inglis, 2001) This has also conjointly been the case for Manchester where we can see that housing prices, especially around ‘Sportscity’, have increased by a reported 480%.
2.1 The Stadium as a Tool for Metropolis The previous chapter illustrates how the two main stadiums in Manchester can act as a potential driver to generate large developments because of their iconography and global status. But where does this presumption of stadia with utopian connotations derive from? ‘There is not a major metropolis on the planet without at least one stadium. A stadium is as much a part of the urban matrix as a town hall, a public library or concert hall.’ (58:Inglis et al., 2004) The stadium is able to act on major and minor scales of interaction and relationships of global flows, identities and local cultures with the economy and social developments being intensified (7-8:Frank and Steets, 2010). It is important to stress, however, that there is not a direct link between large-scale developments and stadia. It is, however, a possible causality of from the ripple effect they create in terms of built developments. In fact, when we examine the actual functionality of stadia on a day-to-day basis, their direct economical benefit to the area is minimal. In terms of its ability to improve the economical aspect of cities, directly, it is poor.
‘Sports stadia are, in terms of the economy, relatively small undertakings that can cause at the outset barely measurable effects on the layout of the city as a whole (Rosentraub, 1997; Hagn and Maennig, 2008; 2009). Nevertheless, how is a stadium perceived by those in its immediate vicinity? Do stadia induce positive economic impulses on a small scale? Do they have that ‘extra something’ that invigorates and enriches a district?’ (630: Gabriel Ahlfeldt and Wolfgang Maennig, 2010) If we were to base the quality of the economical benefits of having a stadium on the area, through a human to square meter proportion, the outcome would be monumentally poor in comparison to an industrial warehouse being put there for instance. But this again in turn, emphasizes the importance of stadia and stadia in Manchester, because although they have no serious direct influence, it is the influences they have on other aspects. ‘Patrick: So in your opinion, it (the stadium) does generate, or sparks, regeneration? Steve: Oh yeah, you just need to look at the baseline for that site, it was derelict, it was a power station, 18
it was contaminated land, where the expansion has taken place, was a derelict factory, if anything the community will improve from this, look at the metro link, its had to adapt, there’s a synergy. Just in terms of physical infrastructure and infrastructure, there’s a significant improvement there. In terms of jobs not many people work in a stadium. I mean there’s a lot of literature on stadiums economic impact and to be honest it’s very minor. They’re basically very well mediated small to medium businesses – they only employ 200 people – so their economic impact has always been exaggerated.’ (Millington, S:2015) So we can witness again, that not only in the stadium’s prowess in terms of its iconography serves as a function for the city, but also it provides non-directional economical influence on the city as we have seen in East Manchester which then in turn starts to have positive influence on attributes such as infrastructure which improves public transport. 2.2 Generational Stadia The stadium’s functionality as a typology acts on several different fields as discussed. This is the reasoning for their location when stadiums were first built in the early 20th century. The vast majority of stadiums planned by Archibald Leitch were implemented in the existing fabric on dense and compact terraced housing areas, as he was aware they acted as community enforcers. Necessities of the stadia and the community itself have changed since, with more ideologies and techno-scientific creations evolving, we have witnessed new generations of stadia. Hence, why Manchester City F.C. have taken the advantage to move into such a development. Rob Sheard, a lead architect of Populous who specialise in stadia development argues a theoretical stance on the generations of stadia that we have witnessed since the early 20th century. It is important to know that this theo-
ry is not just a chronological development of the stadia as there is substantial overlap between the generations (100:Sheard et al., 2005).
The first generation of stadia11 was based solely on the
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See figure xx
driver of holding large crowds, regardless of quality or comfort. The archetypal design would be one that is incorporated into the topography, forming a concrete bowl-like structure aesthetically. These were built largely up until the 1960s where the arrival of televised sport ignited the second generation of stadia. Television began broadcasting sporting events in the 1950s. This resulted in a sharp decline of spectators for games so the emphasis for the functionality of stadia design became dependant on the comfort and improvement of the facilities for the spectators. The archetypal model started to develop aesthetically in terms of the addition of roofs and seats. Floodlights were also beginning to be incorporated which obviously enabled games to have more flexibility in terms of when they played. Incidentally, this had a favourable effect on the attendance of crowds as the ‘non-traditional’ three o’clock kick off games could not be broadcasted, hence, increasing the number of spectators for each game. This generation12 also incorporated non-aesthetic features. The scientific knowledge has advanced, with under-soil and efficient drainage systems also being imbedded into the pitches. On the whole, the second generation did not only make improvements, but aesthetically improved the overall
12
See figure xx
functionality whilst personifying the financial impotence at the time. Sheard argues that the next generation of stadia13 was introduced due to the development of theme parks. It was these theme parks that ‘introduced the revolutionary idea that entertainment facilities could attract all the family’ (111:Sheard et al., 2005). Therefore the emphasis
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See figure X
in the archetypal model for a fourth generational stadium having to increase its lighting and acoustic standards and also allowing for more advertisements around the ground.
of the driver for the third generation became on the incorporation of families. This predominately came when more safety measures where introduced due to the incidents stated in the previous chapter. These disasters resulted Lord Justice Taylor’s report in 1990, which introduced certain criteria that stadia’s in the United Kingdom had to meet. The initial stadiums built utilising these parameters were developments such as the Alfred McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield and the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. As well as being huge developments aesthetically at the time, these stadiums incorporated additional facilities such ads museums, exhibition and conference centres, as well as a hotel also being included in the Reebok Stadium. The third generation of stadia illustrated the movement of the developments moving away from becoming a place to go just to watch a sporting event to a place that could be functional throughout the week. The fourth generation14, like the second, is generated and morphed by the vast amounts of money of television revenue and rights that are now being pumped into the sport. For instance, we have witnessed a rapid growth in the price of television rights for the premier league15. The role of the stadium, in terms of its ability to engage with broadcasters has become much more important because of huge corporate investments. This has resulted
14 15
See figure X See figure X
Each generation signifies a new level of sophistication. The most recent generation, the fifth, concerns the stadium typology as a ‘required element’ to master planning that shape and regenerate cities (116:Sheard et al., 2005). The drivers for 5th generational stadium16 are not 16 See figure X
based on the stadiums performance itself but its overall master plan. The development now has to consider a ‘critical mass containing the residential, commercial, retail, leisure and transport components which encourage a city to thrive’ (116:Sheard et al., 2005). 2.3 Application to Manchester If we apply this knowledge to what exists in Manchester, we can see that Old Trafford is a stadium that once was a 2nd generation stadium that has evolved to a 3rd 20
or 4th generation stadium whilst the home of Manchester City F.C., which once was a 3rd generation stadium, has moved into an existing 5th generational stadium.
‘Contemporary developments are more about a) making big stadiums … which leads me to think it was a happy accident for MCFC … But it’s also how they have bought into other clubs for global developments like New York and Melbourne and that kind of network. And then you look at their master plan for that kind of site,
Billion (£)
0
1
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there always was a master plan, they came in with a master plan in place, they did have a 40 year master plan, and that was really about the land around the stadium and that’s exactly what they’ve done. The training facilities, the expansions, the pitches for the community, a second stadium! Sports science institute, a sixth form a collage. In terms of stadium planning it’s probably the best example I’ve seen in this country.’ (Millington, S:2015) Millington here touches upon the developments that have already occurred since Manchester City F.C. moved
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1992-1997 1997-2001 2001-2004 2004-2007 2007-2010 2010-2013 2013-2016 2016-2019 (“£5.1bn for Premier League TV rights,” n.d.)
into ‘Sportscity’. In terms of their scale the owner of the football club, Sheikh Mansour, has also bought into other clubs around the world in Australia and America, automatically making the clubs network global. But it’s the development of these stadiums that enable the establishment to thrive in the city and we can see it is a modern day exemplar of the 5th generation stadium. However, with this recent rapid modernisation of the stadium’s typology, it can adversely act as a barrier to current ‘older’ generational stadia. This is evident in Old Trafford, where there is a case of a stadium constantly going through adaptations to keep up with the shifts in its functionalities, but we are now witnessing its restrictions with regards to its ability to turn into a 5th generational stadium and to start incorporating itself into substantial master plans that occur around the built environment it lies within. In a sense, the traditional, ‘Archibald Leitch’, archetypal model has become a barrier the now contemporary stadium master plan. This argument that ‘1st (and possibly even 2nd and 3rd) generational stadia’ has become obsolete has been proved in practiced with what has been evidently illustrated in Manchester. Maine Road stadium, where Manchester City F.C. used to be based, was an archetypal model of the 2nd generation. Built into the fabric of densely packed houses, confined to its boundary, the location was once favourable. As requirements of improved standards and the quality within the building’s functionality grew, as did the grounds restrictions in terms of its site location. Hence, the relocation to what was the beginning foundations to a 5th generational stadium in ‘Sportscity’. It is evident to see, that the stadium, as a typology, has evolved into something that can act as a huge driver in a cities ability to thrive and regenerate itself. 21
‘A stadium more than any other building type… has the ability to shape a town or city…if it is used wisely, it will be the most useful urban planning tool a city can possess’ (1:Sheard et al., 2005) When we apply this knowledge back to what currently exists in Manchester, we can see these concepts personified in the urban fabric, ‘Its difficult to imagine, how a city like Manchester, which when you look at the multiple index of deprivation, is 4th poorest local authority in the country, how else are you going to attract in that level of private investors? It’s unthinkable.’ (Millington, S:2015) Millington here refers to the aforementioned indices of deprivation rating of Manchester. More so in the case of ‘Sportscity’ we can observe how the stadium, and its surrounding master plan, is implemented as a tool for the metropolis of the regeneration scheme.
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Chapter 3 1992 Barcelona Olympics As stated in the introduction, Barcelona’s model for the Olympics is a great example for early 5th generation stadia developments. Its aim was to have an effect on each social sphere of the city while implementing a comprehensive urban regeneration (Illas, n.d.). The process of the bidding and the aim resembled Barcelona’s ambitions and personified their ideological stance on planning, which makes it an ideal case to look at in terms of how it compares and contrasts to the ‘Sportscity’.
3.1 Olympics as an Ideological Apparatus Similarly to what is occurring in East Manchester, where utilising the mechanics of the sports orientated stadia to ignite urban regeneration in a city, Barcelona has done the same. Barcelona’s regeneration however, was intro-
projects was formed. Firstly, the facilities needed for the Olympic games being placed on the periphery of Barcelona (the place in need of regeneration). Secondly, to innovate new ideological master plans for the Olympic Area, which in turn facilitated the development of conceptual urban planning and its practice.
duced in the 1980s.
Oriol Bohiga was the leading urban designer for this. ‘Bohigas proposed a renewal rooted in the immediate realities of the street, the square, the neighbourhood and the park.’ (20:Illas, n.d.) It must be noted that Barcelona has already gone through major urban regeneration by this point and therefore the existing fabric was heavily influenced by Ildefons Cedra’s master plan, which was produced when the city required expanding in 1863. His driver for the master plan correlated with his theory ‘Teoria general de la urbanization’. The key elements of which were that the master plan should enable spatial homogeneity to provide equality and progress for everyone (135: Illas, n.d.). It was Barcelona’s first attempt to transform social relations through a new spatial design (137: Illas, n.d.) and it embodied the Catalonia ideology. The call for another regeneration came because of a lack of quality in living conditions and public services on the periphery of Barcelona. Bohiga’s aim for this was to create new dynamic centres throughout the city. His intention for these spaces were such that he suggested they would have a ‘osmotic effect’ and generate ‘positive me-
tastasis’ (146: Illas, n.d.) so disjointed regions found on the periphery could be, in a sense, renewed. This task overlapped with the need to build the facilities needed for the Olympic games. So, a synergy between the two
As it was completed in 199217, the contribution and engagement in the city is easier to evaluate. Some critiques have followed. One argument is that the municipal master plan has been imposed over the heterogeneous city in order to serve the interests of the tourist industry (185: Illas, n.d.). Another is that it does indeed act as a panoptical device in which to control the citizen’s movements and living space. The radicalisation of these principles to form critiques, offer indicators into future models based on this and how it might be implemented in other cities. This said - the Olympic games gave the foundation to stadia development, which acted as a landmark that stitched into the urban fabric. This creates a unique territorialised space as the development then acts upon a field scale where its functionalities are spread across strategic points and has become interwoven in the city. This then enables the developments, due to their iconic empowerment to then become catalysts to intensify urban regeneration (204: Illas, n.d.).
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See figure X 24
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To conclude, the model succeeded in regenerating the city through the use of using sports stadia as a tool. Pasqual Maragall, the municipal government undertook a process of ‘city building’ that profoundly altered the social, urbanistic, economical, cultural and political spheres of the city. (1:Illas, n.d.) This relates back to what Sheard stated (see chapter 2) when he refers to what the stadium typology as a tool can be used for and how it can be ‘the most useful planning tool a city can possess’. It is now one of the most attractive and fashionable tourist destinations in Europe (167: Illas, n.d.).
give their own bids more robustness. This technique was recently used as the founding model for London 2012 Olympics to ignite regeneration in East London. There are various reasons why this case is so successful but I would like to highlight the importance of the conceptual planning ideologies and the element of iconography. The framework in which this was constructed enabled a platform in which iconography could grow to give Barcelona a global status. This, as I will discuss in Chapter 5 is a fundamental attribute to attain in order to be successful.
3.2 Comparison to Sportcity’s Model If we relate this model back to Manchester comparatively we can see many similarities and also contradictories. As will be explained in Chapter 4, Illas argues that the emphasis is not on how the ideologies controlled the development of the city, which is contradictory to the theoretical stance taken in the said chapter. The new city campus was conceived against all panopticism and as a sum of heterogeneous and multiple sites. And when a certain image did serve the production of “global” images representing Barcelona, this element functioned “synecdochically” – as Balibrea says regarding Foster’s communication tower (“Urbanism” 190) - rather than panoptically.’ (153:Illas, n.d.) Both models (‘Sportscity’ and Barcelona) are both fundamentally the same in terms of their basic core strategy – sports orientated master plan that is intended to evoke urban regeneration. There are other similarities that can be seen, for instance ability to generate more development as we have seen with the Torre de Collserola by Foster. The model has created a phenomenon that has provided us with a couple of key elements. 1 – It can be referenced to model other cities. 2 – Provides a theoretical stance on the process of urban regeneration. The model, and its element of using the Olympics for urban regeneration, is often referred to in recent bids from other countries to 26
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Chapter 4 The Functionality of Stadiums 4.1 The importance of Functionality As illustrated in previous chapters, the functionality of the stadium has changed. But it is important to emphasize the degree of importance that the term functionality holds when relating it to a built environment. The traditional concept of functionalism, originally developed by the Bauhaus, is ‘technical efficiency in building construction with ease and efficiency in the movement of people’ (213: Jon Lang:Carmona and Tiesdell, 2007). The conceptual definition likens itself to the functionality of first and second-generation stadiums, as their driver was to build developments for the sole purpose of holding thousands of people. The traditional concept, however, has transitioned in its definition through external critiques. The main critique of the concept is that it is too concerned with technical resolution and that there should be more emphasis on the scale of the human. ‘If urban design is to serve people well, it must be concerned with the needs of people, and thus the mechanisms they use to meet those needs.’ (214: Jon Lang:Carmona and Tiesdell, 2007) The developed definition concurrently runs with the theory of generational stadia where we can see with each generation become more required to the needs of spectators – i.e. the human scale. The developing approach, which works on the more and more on the basis of the human scale, works on several different levels. One level is the actually built ‘mechanisms’, where we can see better quality in the technical resolution with better seats, toilets, food stalls etc. Another level is its ability for the stadium to act as a driver in large-scale master planning, where like we have seen with ‘Sportscity’, the whole area has developed to not just a place to hold sporting events but a place to facilitate and incorporate the needs of the surrounding area. The consideration of what is a ‘place’ also needs to be contemplated when quantifying critique on master planning. ‘But the other you have to do is you have to reconsider what a place is. And a place isn’t just about allowing it to be open to the community its about. A place is something that is endlessly recomposed so it fits in its relationships with other places. So you have to think of it as a network that connects to many things… They solicit a great amount of mobility.’ (Edensor, T:2015) Edensor here highlights the challenges of master planning in terms of its ability to create a sense of place. We can see these challenges being attempted more efficiently through 5th generation stadia. These, compared to the previous generations, more than ever arguably fit within their context and have the ability to fit into their surrounding context by igniting and generating better facilities – facilities being more leisure, commercial and residential amenities. 4.2 The ‘Big Eye’ The general development of the stadium as a typology has seen it become a more integral and important part of urban fabric in city life. This development has led it to gaining more empowerment, which has directed some thoughts and comparisons to theoretical stances such as Le Corbusier’s sketch from La Ville Radieuse in 1933. The emphasis of his sketch18 is to demonstrate how media influences and guides the design process (109: Schnell,
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A: Frank and Steets, 2010). The ‘big eye’ here could be seen to represent the mechanism (of the functionality). Through the sketch, Corbusier is trying to emphasise how this mechanism - the stadium in this case – is an earlier discovery of perspective that can create architectural images and image architecture (110: Schnell, A: Frank and Steets, 2010). So what we can see is more models of architecture that are emerging under surveillance of this tower and in this case, the stadium. However, it is important to note that Corbusier’s argument through this sketch here was that the driver for the emergence of architecture image was no a typology itself but media. So, in a sense, its not the stadium as a typology but the establishment that is ‘constantly simulating’ (111: Schnell, A: Frank and Steets, 2010) development in the surrounding area. 4.3 The Panoptican This resolution suggests that the stadium has an evolving degree of control on the development of the urban fabric. The analogy of the Panoptican has been acknowledged with this regard in terms of stadium influences on city development. The Panoptican is a theory for the emergence of architecture’s capability of sub-consciously creating human discipline. As discussed previously, the archetypal model capability of this is evolving through each generation, both inside and outside of the stadium. Foucault’s theory of the Panoptican is derived from Bentham’s prison design19 that was proposed in the late 18th century. The basic functionality of a prison is to enable itself to control those who are in it and separate them from
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See figure X
the outside world. Bentham’s prison did so, but controlled the prisoner’s in a subliminal fashion. The prison’s key fundamental construction considerations consisted of having a warden’s tower, which is glazed all throughout allowing a three-sixty vision to the outer periphery wall that encapsulates the tower. The outer wall is also the location of the prison cells, where all of the prisoner’s cells point inwards towards the tower. The walls within the warden’s tower are constructed so that no backlight occurs, which means the prisoner’s cannot see the warden (285-6: Frank and Steets, 2010). This therefore creates a degree of control on the prisons simply through the architectural prowess of the prisons design as the prisoners inside do not know when, or if, they are being watched. It is this feature of the stadium as an archetypal model, which is progressively gaining more influence through each of its generational shifts.
‘It was a terrain. But it required policing, and now the whole thing is policed and devised, to a) to watch people all the time, but also its coded in the built form, so the places that exist next to them… But this is the key thing I’m working on. What you might say is that a stadium traditionally is place where people had a certain license for people to engage in carnival behaviour. The idea that the stadium is a place where you can escape social norms.. They are suspended. The stadium is a liminal zone where you kind of express all different kinds of forms of behaviour… The panoptican comes along only after hooliganism.’ (Edensor, T:2015) Edensor’s views on the ‘Panoptican’ nature resonate and correspond with Sheard’s theory of the generation
of stadia. We have only witnessed a notable degree of this control, such as; no standing, no smoking to choreographed movement to regeneration projects, through ‘architectonic qualities’ (1: Edensor, T: 2013) since more safety measures and intensified commercialisation are introduced. The causality for the increase in the Panoptican nature of control is often cited as the increased commercialisation of the grounds, which chimes with Le Corbusier’s stance of the drivers for his vision of future metropolises. So in a sense the mobility of stadiums is generating more and more simulated events. Going back to what Sheard says about 5th generational stadia, the simulated events now
[2]
do not just occur on a match day scale but on a scale which introduces and generates more development around the city. If we apply this thought process to stadia in Manchester we can see it resonate with to varying degrees. See figure XX for example, which shows the scales upon which Manchester City F.C. work upon. Manchester United F.C. also work upon that scale but what is important to note is that it is their difference in their generational stadia which enables the establishments to work to different degrees. The ‘fifth generation’ ‘Sportscity’, and its location, has enabled the establishment to prosper and capitalise on the regeneration scheme. On the other hand we have
[5]
[9] [6]
[3]
[10] [8]
[1] [4]
[7]
[11]
Figure XX - The Scale of Influence [1] - Manchester City F.C. [2] - East Manchester Academy [3] - East Manchester Leisure Centre [4] - Connel Sixth Form College
[5] - Tramline development [6] - Holt Town Housing Scheme [7] - Beswick Housing Scheme [8] - Owens Park Student Village
Old Trafford, which as discussed before is confined to its boundary, which is heavily influenced by exiting infrastructure. But as cited in the Telegraph, Manchester United F.C. are prepared to spend a reported 1.6 Billion pounds on the surrounding industrial area (Ruddick, 2012).
[9] - New York City F.C. [10] - Melbourne City F.C. [11] - Yokohama F. Marinos
4.4 Resolution Overall, with regards to the functionality of the stadium, we can see that its development due to the increased media coverage and technological advances the typolo30
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gy, or the archetypal model of a modern stadium within the city, can act as a lens (278: Frank and Steets, 2010) through which other functionalities of the city take place. So in a sense they are under supervision of the stadium and their development is dependant upon the empowerment that the stadium holds. This is certainly the case for what is occurring in East Manchester. In concurrence with the theory that the stadium acts as the Panoptican, the conclusion that the typology carries parallels of social and spatial orders (279: Frank and Steets, 2010) can be drawn. I contend, through the understanding of the theories discussed prior that this occurs on two very different scales, both in synergy with each other. Firstly, during events for matches, it introduces mass gatherings of society in urbanised areas to one centralised place. Bale argues that this creates topophillia – the idea that although surrounded by thousands of other people, the stadium can provide a sense of place through their individualistic experience of the place. Secondly I conclude that this sense of topophillia extends beyond onto a non- human scale but to the built environment. This we can see transpiring in Manchester in both cases where both stadiums are currently expanding out beyond their physical boundaries and into the fields of the community.
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Chapter 5 Stadiums and Society
The previous chapters state how 5th generation stadia is able to contribute to the metropolis of the city and how it is used as a tool to generate itself as a catalyst to more development in the urban environment. This, however, emerges the negative connotations of gentrification and whether this ever-increasing rapid growth of multi-million pound organisations introduces the paradigm of the rich clubs get richer and the poor clubs get poorer.
schemes, albeit on a different smaller scale.
5.1 The Paradigm It is argued that smaller clubs, due to financial restrictions will have limited access and with the growing technological advances of the stadium and its ability to be part of a master plan, that they will not be able to advance and impose empowerment on their surroundings. In other words, they will not be able to act as a tool for urban regeneration. There is, however, an emergence of smaller clubs having the element of resilience to them with regards to the statement that ‘poor’ clubs are getting poorer. Exemplars of this can be personified in Sliema Wanderers’s new training complex20 and with F.C. United. Sliema Wanderers F.C. have produced a training complex, which has incorporated itself as the centrepiece to a small regeneration scheme in a densely packed part of Malta’s centre. The training complex itself sits on top of a shopping complex called ‘The Point’. Being an overseas case, consideration to its context must take place here as in Malta there is more emphasis on how there is not enough space for more developments to take place, so the developments that do take place have to take this into consideration. So some might argue that this more so a product of the limitations of the site that have produced this rather than as a result of the evolution of the stadiums capabilities in function. On the other hand, one might say it is only due to the technological advances and globalisation that the complex is able to thrive and contribute to the urban and built environment and again, be another exemplar for how stadia can now be used as a tool for regeneration
20
See figure X
F.C. United are also responding to the demands of globalisation through their development of a new stadium. This stadium is an exemplar of how, now in the United Kingdom, to get stadiums approved for planning they have to have varying types of functions. For this stadium to be approved, facilities such as a ‘new public event space’, ‘a club house’ and ‘junior pitches’ had to be incorporated into the master plan. Frank and Steets argue that is the aforementioned transformations of stadiums due to globalisation are based on wider political and social hierarchies. For instance, if we refer back to the disasters that took place from 1971 onwards we can see that such external political movements have influenced the stadium, inside and outside, has become and increasingly territorialized space. ‘In the past one hundred years the environment of football has changed from one enclosed, multifunctional space with considerable spatial interaction among players and spectators (weak rules of exclusion) to enclosed, segmented and mono-functional space with impermeable boundaries and efficient surveillance of crowds (strong rules of exclusion). (121:Bale, 1993b) One might argue, however, that the increased territorialisation of stadium developments concerns only the physical boundary. The said exemplars and the two main case studies of this paper illustrate how the increased functionality of stadiums enables them to embed more into society with policies and requirements based on the surrounding communities well being. So we can inadvertently see that stadium development today is being uti34
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lised by the planners in the United Kingdom as a tool for further development in their communities. So in a sense they become not only tools to generate more quantitative development, but, with regards to what Franks and Steets stated in the previous chapter, tools for social orders in correlation to their built development. 5.2 Emerging Fields of Globalisation Both Millington and Edensor, to different extents, contest the influence of globalisation. ‘To say football clubs are endemic of globalisation – I don’t, yeah okay may be. But it depends what scale you look on – they’re really not that strong economically … there’s often a lot more nuance in it.’ (Millington, S:2015) ‘Part of what globalisation does, it produces things like FC united. If there was no globalisation that wouldn’t have happened so you cant think it of detached from globalisation, its part of it. And it induces local economy.’ (Edensor, T:2015) Edensor argues that smaller clubs like F.C. United are a product of globalisation and as stated previously, such establishments are starting, to a degree, have an influence on the area. But it is the nuance, which Millington refers to which I will emphasize. The nuance here is an assemblage of elements that have contributed such as their iconography and how that lends itself to become play a pivotal role in master planning. Although it might be perceived by some, that the globalisation of the modern stadium produces an increased amount of gentrification, it does so on numerous scales – and contributively in their manner to the contexts they lie within. This correlates with what Bale emphasises as the importance of what aids to the making of a good stadium development. ‘Good football landscapes are, among other things, those which display evidence of local involvement (including that of local residents), possess elements which do not simply serve utilitarian ends but also give small pleasures, are imperfect in small ways (that is, ‘human’), show responsibility for what has been inherited, and result from mutual aid.’ (177:Bale, 1993a) Bales publication, however, although published before 5th generational stadia, or the recent technological advances have been introduced to stadium developments, still emphasises the fundamentals to stadium development that council led polices drive stadiums to be.
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Conclusion
This paper set out to qualify the pretence of stadiums having positive connotations and to question their impact on the built urban environment. The initial pretence of stadiums becoming economic powerhouses that provide huge development after huge development, however, my knowledge has since gone beyond my initial anthropological conceptions with greater understandings of the evolution of the functionality. In addition to this, the preliminary interpretation of globalisation and the assumption that this gentrifies the surrounding area in Manchester had negative connotations became unfounded. Moreover, through discussions with the Head of the Regeneration of East Manchester and through publicized planning approval documents provided by the Manchester City Council, it is intriguing to see how the planners are taking advantage of this attribute of the stadium typology. It is evident to see the beneficiaries taking place in East Manchester through the stadiums ‘lens’. Like Bale predicted, ‘A landscape manifestation of an increasingly ludic population, Hedonopolis will contain a broad girdle of land around it, termed by Sommer as a ‘zone of response’, within which will be a variety of leisure activities, including big stadium complexes’ (144: Bale, 1993a) However, it is interesting to note here that Bale refers to a ‘ludic population’. It contrasts to the exploration of this paper, which illustrates how the archetypal model of the stadium has evolved in its functionality through increased ‘Panoptican’ nature. But it is through this ‘Panoptican’ nature that the typology has enabled itself to become such an important typology in the urban fabric, which generates further developments in the area. This ability to generate other developments is the stadium’s most notable attribute to an urban environment and the concluding findings show that it is not through its economical prowess that it does this, but inadvertently through its iconography.
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Foucault, M., 1979. Naissance de la biopolitique - résumé du cours au Collège de France [WWW Document]. Foucault, M., Sheridan, A., 2012. Discipline and punish the birth of the prison. Vintage, New York. Frank, S., Steets, S. (Eds.), 2010. Stadium worlds: football, space and the built environment, The architext series. Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. Gabriel Ahlfeldt and Wolfgang Maennig, 2010a. International Journal of Urban and Region Research 34.3, 629–46. Gabriel Ahlfeldt and Wolfgang Maennig, 2010b. Stadium Architecture and Urbam Development form the Perspective of Urban Economics 34.3, 629–646. Geography, O.N.S., 2011. Super output areas (SOAs) [WWW Document]. Office for National Statistics. URL http:// www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/census/super-output-areas--soas-/index. html (accessed 1.1.15). Hargreaves, J., 2000. Freedom for Catalonia? : Catalan Nationalism, Spanish Identity, and the Barcelona Olympic Games. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Heine, H., Schaeg, G., 1977. [Ultrastructure of the contact between interstitial cells and myocardial cells in mammalian hearts]. Acta Anat (Basel) 97, 132–142. Hillier, J., Healey, P. (Eds.), 2010. The Ashgate research companion to planning theory: conceptual challenges for spatial planning, Ashgate research companion. Ashgate Pub, Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT. Illas, E., n.d. Thinking Barcelona : Ideologies of a Global City Contemporary Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures v.7. Liverpool University Press. Inglis, S., 2001. Sightlines: a stadium odyssey. Yellow Jersey, London. Inglis, S., English Heritage., 2005. Engineering Archie: Archibald Leitch - football ground designer. English Heritage, London. Inglis, S., English Heritage., Manchester (England)., City Council., 2004. Played in Manchester: the architectural heritage of a city at play. English Heritage, London. James, G., 2008. Manchester: a football history. James Ward, Halifax. John, G., 2000. Stadia: a design and development guide, 3rd. ed. ed. Architectural Press, Boston. Karskens, M., 2013. Bibliographies [WWW Document]. Latour, B., 2005. Reassembling the social an introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford; New York. Let the environment guide our development, n.d. Manchester City’s new £80million-per-year sponsorship deal will bank them nearly DOUBLE that of rivals United [WWW Document], n.d. . mirror. URL http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-citys-new80million-per-year-sponsorship-5290985 (accessed 3.30.15). Man City bosses pour £175m into Owens Park student campus [WWW Document], n.d. . men. URL http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/man-city-bosses-pour-175m-8315416 (accessed 12.21.14). McKinlay, A., Starkey, K. (Eds.), 1998. Foucault, management and organization theory: from panopticon to technologies of self. Sage Publications, London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. Morrissey, 2013. Autobiography. The Penguin Group. Richard Giulianotti and Roland Robertson, 2004. The globalization of football: a study in the glocalization of the “serious life.” The British Journal of Sociology 55, 545–568. Richard Giulianotti and Roland Robertson, n.d. The British Journal of Sociology. 2004 55, 545–567. Ridley, D., 2012. The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students. SAGE. Rio Olympics 2016: Legacy or Fallacy? | Projective Cities, n.d. Ruddick, G., 2012. Manchester United looks to net Trafford Park land. Sachs, J., 2015. The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press, New York. SCARCITY.is, n.d. Sheard, R., Powell, R., Bingham-Hall, P., 2005. The stadium: architecture for the new global culture. Periplus ; Tuttle [distributor], Singapore; North Clarendon, VT. Swett, C., 1975. Outpatient phenothiazine use and bone marrow depression. A report from the drug epidemiology unit and the Boston collaborative drug surveillance program. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 32, 1416–1418. What does record TV deal mean?, n.d. . BBC. Wilson, N., 2007. SIMPLY THE BEST ; But will stadium become another white elephant? Daily Mail. 40
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Extracts from the interview with Tim Edensor Tim : FC United have a very different notion on what stadiums should be They are mecas – these places that people are driven to. From a planning perspective, it was really odd. It was in this vast industrial space. But gradually more and more, more things recruit to it. Things like the sculptures the memorial garden, the fan zone and of course more recently this extraordinary complex which is amazing. The city council was thrilled with that as you have all this money going in. But then it also becomes a place for people to go to, to train. But they provide global services of the latest training methods, the latest dietary methods, of techniques, all sorts of kinds of technology. You also have to think of these places where all sorts of technology are exchanged at a European and kind of global level. You are creating a dynamic environment ad there is a circulation with people coming in and out from all over the world. There’s two ways of looking at it, one making it available to the local community – and there are policies involved that allow for that But the other you have to do is you have to reconsider what a place is. And a place isn’t just about allowing it to be open to the community its about. A place is something that is endlessly recomposed so it fits in its relationships with other places. So you have to think of it as a network that connects to many things. Its easy to think of them as static entities, its much more complicated than that They solicit a great amount of mobility. Part of what globalisation does, it produces things like FC united. If there was no globalisation that wouldn’t of happened so you cant think it of detached from globalisation, its part of it. And it induces local economy. In all stadia, there was massive spillage between the different areas, so if you went to football in the 70s, most of it was standing… It was a terrain. But it required policing, and now the whole thing is policed and devised, to a) to watch people all the time, but also its coded in the built form, so the places that exist next to them. But this is the key thing I’m working on. What you might say is that a stadium traditionally is place where people had a certain license for people to engage in carnival behaviour. The idea that the stadium is a place where you can escape social norms.. They are suspended. The stadium is a liminal zone where you kind of express all different kinds of forms of behaviour. The panoptican comes along only after hooliganism. So you might says there’s a transition for a place for fan performance and then as a place for fan spectatorship. Increasingly people are passive spectators… So you might say these latest developments encourage a spectator relationship – where you are not involved. 45
Stadiums are places where they stage events. Does it provide enough economic benefit is the question… Barcelona for example, it’s known globally, the football club puts the city on the map – there is lots of intangible economic benefits through its iconography. There’s this things about urban regeneration, and the gentrification of the site. A Lot of people get unhappy about gentrification – they also talk about cultural regeneration. People say this only benefits a small number of people. What does this do in terms of regeneration in terms of all the poor housing areas in Manchester ? How does it help them? The response to that is, ok, but you know we are not able to bring in an iron and steel factory or a car production factory, we cant do that – there is deindustrialisation – so it’s the only game in town. We’ve got to do something, and seen as we can’t attract industry, lets doe this. Ultimately, the big stadium master plans benefit the city to becoming a thriving city centre full of creative people and a good work force with innovation that breeds.
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Extracts from the interview with Steve Millington Steve : I think what you’ve seen in Manchester is the end of the old and the beginning of the new. (referring here to Old Trafford and ‘Sportscity’) in terms of how global football clubs kind of organise their business model. The ground (Old Trafford) is surrounding by industry and infrastructure as well and that’s a big problem for them, you know there’s a canal on both sides and the railway line Basically what enabled them to become a globally successfully club in the 80s and 90s was through branding and shirt sales, international fans etc and then to get money through the gate, despite what you say (after me suggesting the confinement of the site is perhaps a hindrance) it’s the biggest football stadium outside Wembley. But that’s it, they cant go any further with that unless they start moving canals and railway lines which makes that really costly. What I do know is that they have been involved in site acquisition around the ground so they’re buying up vacated industrial plots, and there has been kind of some public improvements around there like a hotel there now, but clearly there’s a synergy between them. Other clubs likes Barcelona, Juventus which have kind of been able to take advantage of what you call campus style stadiums which is a new model – so the Etihad campus which is probably the best example of it around the world to be honest in terms of master planning. In one sense when you look at the history of that site you could make two arguments, one is that when MCFC moved which is a site which was really constrained without, they would have to knocked down loads of peoples houses, that wasn’t really an option. In contemporary stadium developments, its not just about the stadium its about round the clock activities. Contemporary developments are more about a) making big stadiums … which leads me to think it was a happy accident for MCFC … But it’s also how they have bought into other clubs for global developments like New York and Melbourne and that kind of network. And then you look at their master plan for that kind of site, there always was a master plan, they came in with a master plan in place, they did have a 40 year master plan, and that was really about the land around the stadium and that’s exactly what they’ve done. The training facilities, the expansions, the pitches for the community, a second stadium! Sports science institute, a sixth form a collage. In terms of stadium planning it’s probably the best example I’ve seen in this country. They’re modelling it on the Barcelona model where there’s a youth academy system and they fed through the worlds best youth facility. Then again you look t the bigger implications, there was a publication about a housing strategy that the Sheikh Mansour family. It’s a funny area New East Manchester – I can understand the council just saying yes to everything because that area has been pretty resistant to change since the 70s. They threw money at it and it never seemed to work… so if I was sitting in a town hall and an oil rich representative comes knocking on the door.. You know. …. Patrick: 47
So in your opinion, it (the stadium) does generate, or sparks, regeneration, without a shadow of a doubt? Steve: Oh yeah, you just need to look at the baseline for that site, it was derelict, it was a power station, it was contaminated land, where the expansion has taken place, was a derelict factory, if anything the community will improve from this, look at the metro link, its had to adapt, there’s a synergy. Just in terms of physical infrastructure and infrastructure, there’s a significant improvement there. In terms of jobs not many people work in a stadium. I mean there’s a lot of literature on stadiums economic impact and to be honest it’s very minor. They’re basically very well mediated small to medium businesses – they only employ 200 people – so their economic impact has always been exaggerated. You’ve got to always take economic development and football with a pinch of salt. There’s also iconography, it’s a tourist attraction, there’s a museum and a shop now, its more than a stadium, its retail and leisure. … (On sportscity) There’s a perceived distance, I mean its closer to the city centre than Maine road, it’s a 20 min walk away from Piccadilly. Its because you have to walk through a horrible industrial estate – its not the same experience as it was. …
I think stadiums can play a bigger role in their city through their iconography, you look at the Nou Camp, the Allianz Arena, you know these become iconic stadiums, they are as recognisable as the Eiffel tower, and that’s important for places like Manchester to have this advantage. So although the economic advantages are probably unite minimal, you’re probably better off having a neighbourhood of small to medium manufacturing business, that’s going to be more sustainable in one sense. It does however have that uniqueness; it attracts people to a place people don’t really go to. Its important how the local community feds into that. One outcome its that there’s a functionally housing community but yore talking about an area which has suffered severely from housing market failure. Is that the football? Not directly, but it has certainly contributed to the regeneration of that area, but it’s a long-term project as well. Its difficult to imagine, how a city like Manchester, which when you look at the multiple index of deprivation, is 4th
poorest local authority in the country, how else are you going to attract in that level of private investors? Its unthinkable. I think it will create issues when they expand, but they still have a huge amount of area to play with. …. What was the alternative for East Manchester? Nothing.
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How else would you do it? You have thousands of acres to work on. … To say football clubs are endemic of globalisation – I don’t, yeah okay may be. But it depends what scale you look on – they’re really not that strong economically … there’s often a lot more nuance in it.
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Interview Consent Forms
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