Developing a research agenda to assess local social impacts of sports tourism regeneration in Medulin, Croatia

Introduction From a social geographical perspective, sports tourism-led transformation and creative change can result in both inclusion and exclusion. New facilities, venues or amenities are invested in and built to attract visitors and encourage spending. Local interests are therefore not always adequately considered and research notes that locals feel excluded as a result of renewal (Spirou, 2010). Questions that pertain to local interests (that relate to inclusion) revolve around how change and new developments will benefit or impact the local community and its residents. More work by geographers and social scientists is needed to address and assess local social impacts. Such a broad-reaching question attempts to understand how local residents perceive and experience ongoing change around them (referring to sports tourism-led regeneration in this case). Conducting case-specific research in local communities will contribute further insight into the intangible outcomes of regeneration and transformation. Such research is also an opportunity for local residents to voice their wants and needs and to describe to what extent (if any) regeneration has benefitted them or transformed their lives. This chapter proposes a research agenda in an area where sports tourism redevelopment is ongoing: in Medulin, Croatia on the Istrian Peninsula. The purpose of this chapter is to address methodological development and research design in our future research. Below we will discuss a number of social conditions and conceptualizations concerning social impacts and sports tourism-led regeneration.