Purpose

Scholars have examined the relationship between sports and urban development and proposed to use sport programs and events as a catalyst to revitalize communities, upgrade urban infrastructure, promote city image, shift economic structure, nurture an active lifestyle, and enhance societal harmony and solidarity. Yet, previous studies were usually focused on mega sport events and were typically conceptual, theoretical and lack of practical applications. This study was designed to attain in-depth understanding on how a specific sport, table tennis, can be systematically organized and utilized to influence urban development through a qualitative research injury.

Design/methodology/approach

This investigation was carried by conducting in-depth interviews of the executive director of the Shanghai Table Tennis Association, on-site observations and comprehensive review of literature. Development of interview questions took into consideration the conceptual framework postulated by Preuss (2007) that contains six structures of urban development through sports. Triangulation analyses were conducted to cross validate the three information sources to generate themes and assertions.

Findings

While the identified practices were consistent with Preuss' (2007) framework, specific management activities earnestly practiced in Shanghai are centered on utilizing cultural and historical heritage, star power, branding strategies, staging tournaments, hallmark events, technical innovation and government relations to achieve the objectives of table tennis as a sport and the objectives of urban development through table tennis.

Originality/value

The findings of this study help fill the void that a theory usually cannot specify, namely, detailed, unambiguous practices. While table tennis may be a viewed as a small sport in many parts of the world, it has a strong, unprecedented historical heritage in Shanghai. This city has made a prudent choice and investment in this sport, which has proved to be effective. Other cities in the world should look into their own social, cultural and historical heritage and develop sport strategies, operations and programs accordingly.

中文翻译：

---

乒乓球如何用于促进上海的发展？采访上海乒乓球协会常务理事

目的

学者们研究了体育与城市发展之间的关系，并提出利用体育计划和活动来振兴社区，升级城市基础设施，提升城市形象，转变经济结构，养成积极的生活方式并增强社会和谐与团结。然而，先前的研究通常集中在大型体育赛事上，并且通常是概念上，理论上和缺乏实际应用的情况。本研究旨在深入了解如何通过定性研究伤害来系统组织和利用特定运动（乒乓球）来影响城市发展。

设计/方法/方法

这项调查是通过对上海乒乓球协会常务理事进行的深入访谈，现场观察和文献综合审查而进行的。面试问题的发展考虑了Preuss（2007）提出的概念框架，该框架包含通过体育进行的城市发展的六种结构。进行了三角剖分分析以交叉验证这三个信息源，以生成主题和断言。

发现

虽然确定的做法与Preuss（2007）的框架一致，但在上海认真开展的具体管理活动集中在利用文化和历史遗产，明星力量，品牌战略，举办比赛，标志性事件，技术创新和政府关系来实现这一目标。乒乓球运动的目标和通过乒乓球发展城市的目标。

创意/价值

这项研究的发现有助于填补理论通常无法指定的空白，即详细，明确的实践。尽管在世界许多地方，乒乓球可能被视为一项小运动，但它在上海却拥有悠久而空前的历史遗产。这个城市在这项运动上做出了谨慎的选择和投资，事实证明是有效的。世界其他城市应研究自己的社会，文化和历史遗产，并据此制定体育战略，运营和计划。