Sports Facilities: tensions and social dynamics in urban contexts

Abstract

From a social perspective, sports stadiums have been regarded as facilities for sports and culture. However, they have also become the main cause of serious problems that affect communities, such as noise, disturbances, the consumption of psychoactive substances, and fights. For this reason, this qualitative and descriptive study aims to analyze two cases: the Manuel Murillo Toro Stadium in Colombia and the Alberto J. Armando Stadium, popularly known as La Bombonera, in Argentina. Their selection was based on criteria of location and scale within the urban structure, as well as the sociocultural characteristics they represent, which make them sites of permanent territorial tensions. To describe the dynamics of these facilities, an analytical matrix was developed, incorporating eight urban categories grounded in theoretical references that generate an interpretative model from a holistic perspective. The contributions of authors such as Jacobs (1961), Lefebvre (2020), Harvey (2012), Bourdieu (2016), Galtung (1969), and Castells (1999), among others, support the understanding of how these infrastructures impact the territory. In conclusion, the study identified patterns of similarity and difference between both cases, highlighting how these facilities become sources of disturbances and acts of violence, revealing the need to rethink the relationship between territorial development and the implementation of facilities that do not compromise citizens’ well-being in diverse contexts.