Sociological Explanation of the Social and Cultural Functions of Sports on Urban Economic Development (Case Study: Kerman City)

Abstract

The present study aimed to understand the role of the social and cultural functions of sports in urban economic development in the city of Kerman. The research is applied in terms of its purpose, cross-sectional in terms of time, and mixed-methods (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of its methodology. In the qualitative phase, the method employed was meta-synthesis, while in the quantitative phase, partial least squares (PLS) was utilized. The qualitative population included Persian and English articles containing the keywords "social and cultural functions of sports," which were analyzed through purposive sampling to extract the dimensions of the social functions of sports. The quantitative population consisted of 243 individuals, including managers of sports clubs, heads of sports associations, and heads of sports federations in Kerman city. Stratified sampling was used, and data were collected via a researcher-made questionnaire with face and content validity and reliability of 0.82. The findings revealed that social and cultural functions can significantly impact urban economic development. Among these, social functions play a more prominent role. Social functions enhance this process through components such as lifestyle changes, creating social cohesion, changing social class, establishing urban neighborhoods, generating employment, shaping consumption patterns, transitioning to a global city, and stimulating economic growth.