Fostering community support for mega events: a narrative inquiry of stories and experiences in the context of Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract

This research sought to explore, understand and interpret community support for mega events in Cape Town, South Africa. 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. As a result, developed nations are not the only countries seeking mega events: mega events have also become attractive to developing nations such as South Africa. Whilst positive social impacts can influence social unification, wellbeing and community development, negative social impacts can cause social division and marginalisation of community members. Those negative experiences influence event criticism and a reduced sense of support. Therefore, a host community’s experiences of a mega event can either embolden community support, or encourage a reluctance to support future mega events; thus establishing the significance of community support to the development of mega events. This study undertook to explore community experiences to identify whether insight could show ways to foster support for mega events. The study collected narrative stories from the host community of Green Point. The respondents told stories from their lived experiences, revealing their individual outlooks on mega events. This helped the study to see the different ways that community members perceive the experience of a mega event over time, and the influence on community support. The resultant themes focused on the community’s experiences of benefits from the event, also giving insight into their negative experiences. This showed how those experiences affected their feelings, and the influence on community support. The stories detailed the respondents’ experiences of togetherness, thus enlightening the importance of a sense of community. The community’s experiences of Ubuntu also emerged as significant to the location of Green Point. The data showed the different ways community members have diverse experiences, and their individual perspectives revealed a variety of feelings, including triumph, uncertainty, disappointment and frustration. Nevertheless, the stories demonstrated how the shared experience of a mega event could bring people together to form a sense of community in a particular place. Finally, the study contributed a timeline that takes into account the changing attitudes to mega events over time, and the influence on community support.