The place of motorsport in public health: an Australian perspective

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Health & Place 11 (2005) 379–391 www.elsevier.com/locate/healthplace

The place of motorsport in public health: an Australian perspective Paul J. Trantera,, Mark Douglas Lowesb a

School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, University College, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia b Department of Communication, University of Ottawa, 554 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa ON Canada, K1N 6N5 Accepted 2 July 2004

Abstract The sport of motor racing provides various public health messages and impacts. Positive messages include road safety campaigns aimed at discouraging drink driving. Negative messages include the sponsorship of racing teams by cigarette companies. Locating motorsport events in significant public places can magnify any health messages or impacts of motorsport in two ways. First, the total local impact of the motor racing events (e.g. through pollution or disruption to healthy modes of transport) is greater in city street circuits than in dedicated racing circuits away from urban areas. Second, the symbolic characteristics of locations with special significance and meaning can enhance the impacts on health by adding legitimacy to the events, thus helping to promote products or activities that either undermine or support public health. This paper explores the health messages and impacts of major motorsport events in Australia, and argues that the distinctive geographies of Australian motorsport work to exacerbate the negative impacts of motorsport on public health. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Motorsport; Public health; Sponsorship; Road safety; Public space; Spectacle

Introduction There is a growing literature which draws attention to the way in which many cities seek to enhance their image and bring renewed economic prosperity through the pursuit of major sports teams and mega-events (Cagan and deMause, 1998; Noll and Zimbalist, 1997; Hiller, 1989; Molotch, 1976; Gibson, 2004). The pursuit of major sports events is best understood as part of a larger project in which corporate and civic elites struggle to Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 6268 8310;

fax: +61 2 6268 8017. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (P.J. Tranter), [email protected] (M.D. Lowes).

establish, maintain, and enhance their city’s status in a transnational economic and cultural hierarchy of cities (Andranovich et al., 2001). Civic leaders argue that it makes good economic and cultural ‘common sense’ to invest public resources in these showcase events (Lowes, 2002a; Rowe and McGuirk, 1999). One type of major sporting event that is becoming a feature of image making for cities throughout the world involves motorsport events in city street circuits in major urban public spaces. Motorsport events freight a wide range of health messages and impacts that are not limited to the active participants (e.g. the drivers and their pit crews). The health impacts of motorsport have their biggest influence on spectators and members of the general public.

1353-8292/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2004.07.004

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These are, in effect, the target audiences for the corporate interests that dominate the physical and symbolic landscape of major motorsport events (such as Australia’s international Formula One and Indy extravaganzas). The health messages associated with motorsport relate to driver behaviour and road safety (Tranter and Keeffe, 2001), cigarette smoking (Chapman, 2002) and alcohol consumption (Buchanan and Lev, 1988). The health impacts of the sport are varied. While motorsport is credited with assisting the development of safety features of modern vehicles, available evidence (outlined in this paper) suggests that the total impact of motor racing on health is negative. In addition to increased risk of exposure to pollutants and disruption of medical services (Urie, 1994), research indicates that motor racing is linked with increased risk taking and accidents on public roads, as well as the numerous accidents occurring on the racing circuits (Bannerman, 2000; Arnold et al., 1989). The location of motorsport events can compound any impact of the sport on health in two ways. First, it can increase the total local impact if an event is located in a high-density urban area. In such a location, the byproducts of motor racing (e.g. air and noise pollution) impact on more people. There is also more disruption of health-promoting activity such as walking and cycling. Second, the symbolic characteristics of locations with special significance and meaning can enhance the impacts on health by adding legitimacy to motorsport events, thus helping to promote products or activities that either undermine or support public health. The geography of motorsport in Australia differs from that in many other countries. A number of major motorsport events in Australia are staged in significant public places. While Australia does have special purpose racing circuits, major motor racing events have been held in inner city street circuits, in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and the Gold Coast. The Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne (previously hosted by Adelaide) is unusual in that it is located in a high density urban area, where over 100,000 people live within 3 km of the streets used as a racing circuit, and over 30,000 live within 1 km (Urie, 1994). Most other Formula One events are located on purpose built circuits away from the centres of cities. The motor racing events in Australia’s Parliamentary Zone are also unusual: it is rare for nations to allow their most significant ‘national’ places to become motor racing circuits. The way in which motor sports events have taken over many significant urban public spaces in Australia is of great consequence from an ideological viewpoint. If an activity is given priority in urban spaces, this indicates that the activity is an important part of the city’s culture. Staging major motorsport events in significant public places adds to the public approval of this sport, and of

its associated corporate interests. This promotes a city culture that positions the consumer above the citizen as the central point of city life (Lowes, 2002a). While commodifying public space serves the interests of dominant groups in society, it may not concord with the goal of advancing public health. This paper examines how the geography of motorsport events in Australia influences the public health impacts and messages of this sport. It focuses on major motor racing events held in significant urban public spaces on urban street circuits. After outlining some of the distinctive features of sport and motorsport in Australia, the paper develops an argument about the symbolic importance of a city’s public spaces in terms of promoting particular discourses that may have public health impacts. The research design for the paper is then outlined, followed by a description of the health messages and impacts of motorsport in Australia. Four case studies are then used to illustrate the interplay between the health impacts and messages of Australian motorsport and the symbolic power of the city public spaces in which they have been staged.

Sport and motorsport in Australia Sport is an integral part of Australia’s national identity, and motorsport has become an important part of Australia’s sports culture. Australian motorsport has grown in popularity since its beginnings in 1901 with a race for motorised tricycles in the Sydney Cricket Ground. The first four-wheeled car race was held in 1904 at Melbourne’s Sandown Park, a venue that is claimed to have ‘‘the world’s longest motor racing history’’ (Davis, 2001, p.227). Motorsport is now among the most popular spectator sports in Australia, ranking third behind Australian Rules football and horse racing in a 1999 survey (Davis, 2001). The history of motorsport in Australia (Pollard, 1996; Shepherd, 1980) parallels that of other sport in that it has grown into a fiercely competitive multi-million dollar industry, with television coverage for many of the popular motor racing events. An important aspect of the culture of motorsport in Australia is the way that motor racing events have changed the character of particular places. Some notable examples of this are Mount Panorama near Bathurst (NSW), Albert Park in Melbourne and the Parliamentary Zone in Australia’s national capital, Canberra. All of these places are now associated with the speed and daring of a particularly masculine sport. An indication of the importance of motorsport in the Australian identity is the fact that Australia’s federal politicians have allowed a motor racing event, complete with alcohol advertising and sponsorship, to occur with a backdrop of the nation’s Parliament House.

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There are many types of motorsport in Australia, each with a particular appeal and following (Pollard, 1996). As well as popular international formulas such as Formula One and Indy-car, Australia has its own styles of motor racing. The V8 Supercar category of motor racing (formerly known as Group A Touring Cars) is unique to Australia, and is exclusively for Ford and Holden V8-engined cars. V8 Supercars are race-modified versions of the publicly available Australian-made Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore sedans. These cars are regarded by motor racing fans as the quintessential Australian ‘muscle cars’, and are similar in appearance to publicly available cars of the same name. Consequently, many Australian drivers can identify with ‘their’ racing car (Ford or Holden). There are numerous other categories of motorsport in Australia, including Formula Ford and Formula Holden, various categories of motorcycle racing, rallying, drag racing, and speedway racing. The motor sports formulas with the largest public interest in Australia include Formula One, Indycar and V8 Supercars. Motorsport in Australia, and all over the world, is as much a commercial activity as a sporting activity. ‘‘Advertisers eager to associate themselves with racing spectacles fund and promote racers’’ (Shackleford, 1999, p.191). The speed, power, masculine daring and excitement of motor racing are used as marketing tools for products ranging from deodorant to beer and cigarettes, from shock absorbers to the motor vehicles themselves. The products that are linked to motor racing can contribute to the impact that the sport has on public health. As yet, there has been limited health promotion sponsorship associated with motor racing in Australia (Tranter, 2003). Instead, the sport has contributed to the promotion of products that have clear negative impacts on public health, including alcohol, tobacco and cars themselves. It is all sports that are affected by the intensive commercialisation of sport since the 1950s on an international scale, not only motorsport. Sport as a whole has become increasingly subject to the demands of the market, and this has had a tremendous impact on the cities that fight to secure professional sport franchises. In today’s climate of relentless inter-urban competition for the major public and private investments that contribute to economic growth, spending on imagemaking and public relations is often perceived to be as important as spending on urban infrastructure and other upgrades (Harvey, 1989, 2000; Lowes, 2002a,b; Ward and Gold, 1994; Ley and Olds, 1988). Many politicians and business interests now view sport as an important engine of economic growth. City officials from around the world have apparently embraced the idea that international sports events are essential in projecting a ‘‘world-class image’’ of their city. This is the rhetorical thrust of sports boosters.

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Therefore, at a time when communities are under assault from all sides by development forces, we argue in this paper that it is crucial for research to be undertaken which critically and systematically investigates the health impacts of motorsport events that are held in the major public spaces of cities. The problem is that there is a paucity of sustained critical analysis along these lines. Consequently, we hope that this paper will contribute to the development of a multidisciplinary research agenda that will explore these issues. It is important to note that while it would be useful to place our discussion in this paper into a much wider international comparative frame, by comparing the Australian case to other countries where motorsport is prominent, notably the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, it is very difficult to do so. The problem is that there has been very little critical scholarship that examines the role of motorsport in the broader context of urban space. When motorsport is specifically addressed, it is typically used to provide a general example or illustration for an argument—rather than as a specific object of inquiry in-and-of itself (e.g. Rowe and McGuirk, 1999). An exception here is Lowes’ work, which examines the conflict that arose between a Vancouver, Canada, community and the civic and corporate boosters who wanted to move the Molson Indy Vancouver motorsport event to their neighbourhood park (Lowes, 2002a,b). In light of all this, we argue that motorsport needs a more prominent place in the research agenda of the geography of public health.

Public space and motorsport spectacle As the novelist Jonathan Franzen has observed, a genuine public space is a place ‘‘where every citizen is welcome to be present and where the purely private is excluded or restricted’’ (Franzen, 2002, p.50). A city’s public spaces are of tremendous symbolic importance because they are the primary sites of its public culture. But what happens when these spaces are subjected to privatisation, as they have increasingly been over the past two decades in almost every major city in the affluent world? The major consequence is that these spaces have come to function almost exclusively as promotional vehicles for the commercial interests that dominate them. The structuring and symbolising of a city’s parks, streets and waterfronts, manifests the interests and sensibilities of the city’s primary ‘‘place entrepreneurs,’’ those powerful coalitions of developers and political and business elites who are the principal architects of urban public development (Lowes, 2002a, p.113; Duncan and Duncan, 1988; Ley, 1987,1988). This is especially significant when the city’s most significant public spaces are handed over to the motorsport industry and its key sponsorship interests: the

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automobile, tobacco and alcohol industries. What you get is the saturation of these spaces with the discourses of consumption and the relentless promotion of ‘the good life’ that motorsport culture celebrates. This serves a distinctly ideological function by ‘naturalizing’ these vested commercial interests as self-evident, as part of the general ‘common sense’ of society and, therefore, as something to be taken for granted (Lowes, 1999). Promotional messages which celebrate ‘life in the fast lane’—fast cars, hyper-masculinity, smoking and drinking—are privileged. Those messages that might call attention to the negative aspects of privatising public spaces are downplayed, marginalised or excluded all together. Any negative messages and impacts associated with motorsport are accentuated when these events are situated in significant urban public spaces. The sociologist Sharon Zukin (1995) has argued that a city’s public spaces are a window into the soul of its public culture. They are therefore ‘‘an important means of framing a vision of social life in the city, a vision both for those who live there and interact in urban public spaces every day, and for the tourists, commuters, and wealthy folks who are free to flee the city’s needy embrace’’ (Zukin, 1995, p.259). In this sense, urban public spaces have a great deal of symbolic power. While staging major motorsports spectacles in city streets is seen as an important aspect of image making for the city involved, it can also be seen as an important part of the image making for the sport of motor racing. When parks, waterfronts, or parliamentary zones are used to play host to motorsport events and their profoundly commercial apparatus, they confer legitimacy on these spectacles, and by extension, on the messages they disseminate. The dominant activities in urban public spaces are ‘‘read’’ by citizens and tourists alike as indicators of the priorities of that city and its culture. Thus when a city’s public spaces are used to host major motorsport spectacles and their attendant commercial interests, this may have the effect of elevating commercial interests above public health and social welfare issues. It is not only motorsport events that have negative impacts on public (and environmental health). Any major sports event (including the Sydney Olympic Games) will have a range of impacts (Lenskyj, 2000). However, the very nature of motor racing events, and their staging in Australian city street circuits, renders health damaging impacts likely more significant than those from other sporting events. In contrast some other major sports events, such as major international bicycle or walking racing events, have minimal negative health impacts and in fact raise the profile of healthy modes of transport. We can see the negative impacts of motorsport events play out over a number of significant public places in

several Australian cities. For most motorsport spectacles, the events themselves last only a few days and are often associated with other festivals or activities, including concerts, balls and exotic car parades. However, the impact on these public places is felt over a much longer period. The time for setting up and removal of race infrastructure and for the restoration of the spaces can be several months (as is the case in Albert Park for the Grand Prix). The huge amount of time and public money that is devoted to motor racing in public places is indicative of the prominent role of motorsport in Australian culture.

Research design As far as the authors are aware, no previous academic research has critically examined motorsport events and their media coverage in terms of their public health messages. In the research for this paper, the authors first identified possible themes/items that could be construed as having implications for public health. (These are discussed in the section below titled ‘‘The health messages and impacts of motorsport’’ and include tobacco and alcohol promotion and various messages relating to driving). Once these themes had been identified, it was then possible to examine how these themes were portrayed at the motorsport events and in the media coverage of the events. The authors looked for both positive and negative health messages coming from these events. The guiding questions for the research were: 1. What were the positive health messages (and impacts) from motorsport events in Australia? 2. What were the negative health messages (and impacts) from these events? 3. Does the location of the motorsport events in street circuits in major public spaces in Australian cities have any influence on the strength of the public health messages and impacts? This paper focuses on major motor racing events held on public streets and roads, rather than dedicated street circuits. The events examined here are: the Bathurst 1000 event at Mount Panorama in New South Wales (a public road circuit near the country town of Bathurst); the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Albert Park in inner Melbourne; the Clipsal 500 event in Adelaide’s inner city street circuit; the Honda Indy event at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland; and the Canberra 400 event in the Parliamentary Zone in the national capital. The last four of these are examined in detail as case studies. This sample is not representative of the range of motor racing events held in Australia. However, it does

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cover the events that are likely to be well attended, with crowd figures of up to 370,000 (for the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne), and viewed as live telecast by significant numbers of Australians (Parkinson, 2002). Hence the events examined in this paper are likely to be significant in terms of any impacts of motor racing on public health, if only because of their potential to influence the attitudes and behaviour of large numbers of people. The research for this paper was based on a range of methodologies including participant observation, the analysis of various motorsport ‘texts’, and interviews. The research included observation of motor racing events, including the setting up and removal of race infrastructure. An important component of the research was discourse analysis, which is based on the detailed analysis or ‘reading’ of texts and the messages encoded within them. These texts included television coverage of all the major street motor racing events by the Australian television Channel 10’s sports programs (together with the advertisements associated with this coverage), an Australian motor racing magazine (Motor Racing Australia), official event programs (e.g. for the Canberra 400 V8 Supercar events), official and unofficial web pages on motor sports events (e.g. CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport), V8 Supercars Australia, FIA and Save Albert Park sites), and newspaper coverage of the events (including letters to the editor), particularly for the Canberra Times newspaper. These sources were examined specifically for any messages relating to public health. Such messages included specific remarks from commentators, and any advertising and sponsorship that was likely to either undermine or support public health (e.g. tobacco sponsorship or health sponsorship). Interviews were conducted with key members of groups aimed at protecting the public space used as the sites for the races: Save Albert Park (Melbourne) and Defending Public Space (Canberra). These groups have as their aim the removal of the motor racing events from their respective locations on the grounds that such events are incompatible with the recreational or the national significance of the relevant space. For both these groups, issues relating to public health were seen as important arguments against the staging of the events. Other sources of information included publicly available documents relating to particular public places and the planning and running of motor racing events (NCA, 2000, 2002; Parkinson, 2002).

The health messages and impacts of motorsport Both positive and negative health messages and impacts can be identified in motorsport. Messages relating to public health include: the promotion of

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products that have impacts on health; glorification of a particular form of transport; and the promotion of certain driving behaviours. The health impacts of motorsport include: effects on road accidents; localised impacts on racing drivers, spectators and local residents; and the foreclosure of health promoting activities. Some of these messages and impacts are found in many popular sports in Australia. However, others are largely restricted to motorsport (e.g. cigarette sponsorship). A number of positive health messages can be identified in motorsport events. Some famous motor racing drivers have promoted safe driving behaviours. For example, Peter Brock (a famous Australian touring car driver), actively promoted an anti-drink driving message through his motor racing. Brock used his ‘‘05’’ racing number as a way of highlighting the importance of drivers staying below a blood alcohol concentration of .05 g of alcohol per 100 ml of blood (the legal limit in Australian states and territories). Motorsports associations have developed road safety campaigns (FIA, 1998) and driver education programs (CAMS, 2001). The New South Wales state government developed a women’s anti-violence campaign ‘‘It’s Against All the Rules’’ featuring famous Australian motor racing personalities (NSW Attorney General’s Department, 2002). However, in spite of such positive health messages, the negative public health messages are more persistent and more obvious to spectators. A significant and well-researched negative health message from motorsport relates to cigarette sponsorship. Motorsport provides virtually the only remaining form of publicity for the tobacco industry in Australia. While cigarette advertising and promotion is banned in Australia, the Australian government makes an exception for some ‘international’ events, most of which are motor racing events (the Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, the Rally Australia event in Western Australia and the Indy-Car Championship at the Gold Coast). This is despite the evidence of the considerable health costs of cigarette smoking in Australia (Collins and Lapsley, 1996) and evidence that cigarette advertising and sponsorship leads to higher usage levels (Cornwell and Maignan, 1998; Smee, 1992; Charlton et al., 1997). The link between motorsport and cigarette sponsorship in Australia is not restricted to ‘international’ events. Motor racing magazines continue to feature photographs of cigarette sponsorship in ‘Australian’ motorsport. For example, in one issue of the magazine Motor Racing Australia (the 2002 Bathurst Special Edition) more than 40 separate illustrations depict cigarette sponsorship, mainly in photographs of winning drivers and their cars, or ‘grid girls’ from ‘‘Bathurst 1000’’ racing events. This issue also includes a two-page advertisement for Fuji film, which is dominated by the

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cigarette name ‘‘Marlboro’’ on a racing car (pp. 14–15). This car is referred to elsewhere in the magazine as ‘‘Peter Brock’s Marlboro Commodore VK’’ (p.121). At the 2002 Bathurst 1000, the two Ford racing cars that came first and second in the 1977 Bathurst 1000, were driven around the circuit as part of a Ford promotion. The two cars were driven by the original drivers, and still displayed the tobacco sponsorship that existed in the 1970s. Thus cigarette brand names continue to benefit from links with the ‘success’ and ‘excitement’ of Australian motorsport, long after the actual sporting events have occurred. Along with tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption is a major health issue (Chikritzhs et al., 2001; Collins and Lapsley, 1996; Tai et al., 1998; Teesson et al., 2000). Several researchers have argued the health benefits of a ban on alcohol advertising (Saffer, 1997; Sivyer, 1990; Grube and Wallack, 1994; Casswell, 1995). Sponsorship of sport by alcohol companies has been recognised by an Australian Federal Health Minister (Michael Wooldridge) as a major public health challenge (Gray, 2000). Alcohol companies throughout the world have used sport as a vehicle to promote their products, particularly to young males (Crompton, 1993). Research in the United States shows that motorsport has become a high priority for brewing companies, who use motorsport sponsorship to ‘‘condition the psyches of their young targets, reshaping their social environments to actively but unobtrusively associate beer, cars and speed’’ (Buchanan and Lev, 1988, p.2). Alcohol companies provide some of the major sponsorship money for Australian motorsport. Alcohol sponsorship and advertising is clearly evident in all of the major motorsport events in Australia. Brewing companies are important sponsors for the Grand Prix events, the Indy-Car events and the V8 Supercar series. Indeed, a full-strength beer is marketed as the ‘‘Official Beer of V8 Supercars’’. The name and the logo of this beer appears on the cars, helmets and clothing of the racing drivers, as well as on large signs placed at noteworthy sections of the motor racing circuits. For example, in the Canberra and the Adelaide street motor racing circuits (discussed below), large ‘‘Victoria Bitter’’ signs were located on the fastest parts of the circuit, providing a subliminal association of ‘full-strength beer’ with high speed driving. Full-strength beer is the ‘‘archetypal high-risk beverage in the sense of being favoured by young, blue collar, single men for consumption in excess’’, and this beer is a major contributor ‘‘to serious alcohol related harm’’ (Stockwell and Crosbie, 2001). The health damaging consequences of mass car use are becoming more clearly understood (O’Brien, 2003; Dora, 1999; Godlee, 1992; Haines et al., 2002; Mason, 2000). Motorsport, particularly in important public spaces, contributes to the glorification of private motor vehicles. The role of motorsport events in the marketing

strategy of two major Australian car companies, Ford and Holden, is well known: ‘‘a win at Bathurst y will ensure the customers keep coming to the winner’s showrooms around the country’’ (Smith, 2002, p.68). Australian motorsport specifically assists the marketing of high performance cars (e.g. the V8 Falcons and Commodores). Research indicates that high performance cars are linked with greater risk taking by drivers, and this occurs independently of the tendency of high risk takers to purchase such vehicles (Horswill and Coster, 2002). Motorsport also provides problematic role modelling in terms of driving behaviour. If the driving styles of motor racing are emulated by normal drivers on public roads, this will lead to higher accident levels. Selfreporting of behaviours such as high speed driving, tailgating and dangerous overtaking in on-road driving ‘‘is significantly predictive of accident involvement, both retrospectively and prospectively’’ (Parker et al., 1998). Motorsport events in city street circuits may also undermine road safety messages such as ‘‘Safe Speeding? There’s No Such Thing’’, hence legitimising risky driving behaviours. This message may translate into actual health impacts in terms of increased accident levels (see below). A range of actual health impacts of motorsport can be identified, some of which are positive. Motorsport has contributed to advances in vehicle safety as well as to the reduction in engine emissions (Procar Australia, 2003; Motorsport Industry Association, 2003). However, advances in such safety and emission reduction features can occur independently of motor sport, and it is not necessary to stage motorsport events in city street circuits for such advances to occur. The negative health impacts of motorsport include increased road accidents and pollution, disruption to health services, and the foreclosure of health supporting activities. As well as the obvious dangers to drivers and spectators from crashes during motorsport events, there is evidence that motorsport is linked with an increase in road accidents off the racetrack. Racing drivers themselves have been shown to be poor role models in terms of their own safety record on public roads (Williams and O’Neill, 1974). Road accidents in South Australia around the time of Adelaide’s first Grand Prix jumped dramatically, even controlling for variables such as traffic volumes and weather conditions (Fischer et al., 1986; Arnold et al., 1989). Accident rates may also be higher on roads that are known by motorists to be motor racing circuits at particular times of the year. For example, casualty accident rates on public roads around Melbourne’s Albert Park more than doubled after the roads were used as a Formula One race circuit (Bannerman, 2000). A possible explanation for this is that ‘‘risks will be taken by motorists testing their skill as potential racing car drivers’’ (Urie, 1994).

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Pollution is another health impact from motorsport. Drivers, spectators and officials are exposed to high pollution levels from the racing vehicles, and this can be exacerbated in city street circuits where pollution is trapped by surrounding buildings (Graham-Rowe, 2001; Urie, 1994). Motor racing also produces fine black carcinogenic dust from skidding tyres (Urie, 1994). Noise pollution provides another health impact. Noise levels from Formula cars are similar to that produced by a jet plane taking off. Noise pollution from motorsport penetrates buildings and its impact is heightened in street circuits in densely populated urban areas. Motorsport events in urban areas can impact negatively on health through the disruption to health services. This is a particular issue in street circuits in Melbourne and Adelaide (see case studies below). As well, motorsport can disrupt other health supporting activities or healthy modes of transport. Motorsports events in urban parkland (such as Albert Park) contribute to the long term degradation of the quality of such parks, and interfere with other sporting activities normally occurring in them. Pedestrians and cyclists can also be further marginalised by major motorsport events in urban areas, when pedestrian and cyclist access is disrupted (Tranter and Keeffe, 2001). While there is potential to develop the positive health messages associated with motorsport (Tranter, 2003), it is apparent from the arguments in this section that any positive health messages and impacts from motorsport are often counteracted by more powerful or more persistent negative images and impacts (e.g. relating to cigarettes or alcohol). The next sections of the paper outline, through four case studies, the interplay between the health impacts and messages from motor racing and the symbolic power of the urban public spaces in which they are located.

Case study one: Albert Park, Melbourne (Victoria) Parks are the green lungs of the city, refuges from the noise, pollution and dangers of our machine world, places for play and recreation, places reserved for contact with nature and natural cycles (Yenken, 1994, quoted in Save Albert Park, 1995). The gardens and parklands of Melbourne belong to the people of the State. The park lands of the city are something the politicians have inherited to hold in trust so that they can be passed on to future generations (Kennett, 1985, quoted in Save Albert Park, 1995). The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne is not simply an urban street circuit. It is held on public roads in an urban parkland reserve of considerable historical significance. The 130-year-old Albert Park is one of

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Melbourne’s largest inner city park reserves, and is an important recreational area for thousands of local residents (Littlewood and Ward, 1998). Albert Park in Melbourne, the location of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix since 1996, has been radically changed in character by motorsport events. For more than half the year, the park is a place of active amateur sport and informal recreation, as well as a tranquil area of escape from the pressures of urban life and a place for contact with nature. Then, when thousands of tonnes of race infrastructure are trucked into the park over a period of three to four months, the park is transformed into a construction site, and then a site for spectacular consumption for a privileged minority. A Doctors’ Working Group of general practitioners, specialists and health professionals identified a range of expected risks to the health and well-being of the residents and workers near the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit (Urie, 1994). These risks included: confusion and disorientation caused by excessive noise (particularly for elderly and psychiatrically disabled residents); increased air pollution from both traffic congestion and from the race cars; effects of drunkenness of spectators; and increased accident rates. Indeed, the casualty accident rate on roads around the park increased dramatically after the park became the site for a Formula One race, as motorists were encouraged to ‘‘have a go at the completed track’’ (Bannerman, 2000). As well as these localised impacts, other health issues related to tobacco and alcohol sponsorship, the promotion of speed and risk taking, and the opportunity cost of the public funds devoted to the motor racing spectacle that could have been made available for health services or medical research (Urie, 1994). Most Grand Prix events are held on purpose built tracks located well away from highly populated areas. Conversely, the Australian Grand Prix is held in a highdensity inner city area. Albert Park is a significant public space within Melbourne. Locating a Grand Prix motor race in Albert Park is likely to have a greater impact on public health than if the race were in another street location or on a dedicated racing circuit. Within a kilometre of the Albert Park Circuit, there are 16 child care centres or kindergartens, 12 schools, four hospitals and several residential or nursing homes for the elderly. The park itself is highly valued by residents, and by many citizens of the state of Victoria, as a place that belongs to the people, as suggested in the quote from Kennett (Premier of the Australian state of Victoria from 1992 to 1999) above (Save Albert Park, 1995). Albert Park is an integral component of Melbourne’s reputation as a city of parks and gardens. The symbolism of having a car race in Albert Park suggests that the state government has established a set of priorities in which international motor sports organisations and tobacco companies are given precedence over

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the health and well-being of citizens of Victoria. The commercialisation and degradation of the public open space of Albert Park that occurs because of the Grand Prix is symbolic of an ideology that values private profit above public health.

Case study two: Adelaide Parklands (South Australia) The parks are the pride and glory of this city—the best and greatest asset it has, or ever can have. To every generation they are becoming more valuable. Let us, therefore, keep them inviolate, keep them intact, keep them sacred from the hands of the despoiler (Lewis Cohen, Deputy Mayor of Adelaide, 1910, quoted in Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association Inc., 2004). Many of the arguments about health impacts of motor racing in Albert Park also apply to Adelaide’s street racing circuit in the Adelaide Parklands. These parklands are ‘‘of unique cultural value, serving an important environmental, recreational and tourism role’’ (Planning SA, 2003). They also have a significant symbolic value as an important piece of urban history and as a trademark of city planning in South Australia (Gilfillan, 2000; van Vliet, 1991). While the parklands of most other cities have been significantly eroded by development pressures, the Adelaide Parklands are the remarkable result of the continued preservation of the recreational and heritage value of 700 ha of parkland surrounding a planned city of ‘‘one square mile’’ that was originally designated in 1837 by Colonel Light, the Surveyor General (Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association Inc., 2004). Some state government ministers have considered the declaration of the parklands in the world heritage listing (Gilfillan, 2000). The Australian Formula One Grand Prix (with all its associated advertising and sponsorship) was held in the street circuit in the Adelaide Parklands surrounding the square of the Adelaide city centre from 1986 to 1995, when it was moved to Melbourne. From 1999, a V8 Supercar event (the Clipsal 500) has been an annual event in the Adelaide Parklands, using a street circuit similar to that used for the earlier Formula One events. This event is now the opening round for Australia’s V8 Supercar series. As in Albert Park, the motor racing events represent a significant departure from the lowimpact sporting and recreational activities that hitherto had been allowed in the Parklands. The motor racing events have a protracted impact on public use of this parkland. Although public roads are closed for only ten days, the disruption from construction and removal of race infrastructure lasts for months. The staging of major motorsport events in the Adelaide Parklands has immense symbolic imagery. It

indicates that motorsport (and associated corporate interests) have a higher priority than the protection of a precious heritage—‘‘arguably the most precious heritage of the city of Adelaide’’ (Gilfillan, 2000). The organisers and promoters of the motorsport events in the Adelaide Parklands exploit the location of the race. The television coverage of the race makes the location of the circuit (in the parklands right next to the centre of Adelaide) clear to the viewers. The coverage uses the trees and the buildings of central Adelaide as part of the backdrop to the race coverage, which is much more interesting than a bland purpose built circuit. The race telecast features repeated shots of the racing cars appearing to drive out of central Adelaide into the parkland. In television coverage of the Adelaide Clipsal 500 race in March 2004, the Channel 10 commentary included the following: Right now the focus is South Australia and the streets of Adelaide You can see the proximity of this racing track to the CBD in Adelaide This is the Adelaide Parkland Circuit Wonderful event y the Clipsal 500 y lots of colour, a grand theatre of motorsport. Just outside the city centre, the Adelaide street circuit utilises most of the famous Formula One layout (Channel 10 Australia, 20 March 2004). The organisers of the race appear to recognise that the location of the event, in the Adelaide Parklands, is a factor in attracting people to motorsport. During the coverage of the 2004 race, the AVESCO (Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company) chairman commented: ‘‘To bring a whole stack of people here who otherwise might not be interested in motorsport—you might just bring a few people into the fold y That’s why we’re the fastest growing sport in the country’’. As well as the considerable symbolic importance of allowing motorsport events to be staged in the Adelaide Parklands, there are noteworthy local health impacts. Although the population density around the Adelaide street circuit is lower than that around Albert Park, the circuit is located near the centre of Adelaide where there is a range of medical services. The location of the Adelaide Grand Prix and subsequent motor racing events (e.g. the Adelaide 500) maximised the impact on Adelaide hospitals and clinics. The Adelaide Grand Prix Circuit was directly in front of the Parkwynd Private Hospital, and was within 250 m of the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Wakefield Hospital. Numerous other hospitals and clinics are located within 1 km of the current race circuit, including St Andrews Hospital, East Terrace Hospital and Torrens House Hospital (a baby settling management hospital).

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Another health impact of the motorsport events in the Adelaide Parklands may relate to the increased danger of street circuits compared to special purpose racing circuits. There was an acknowledgment of this possibility by racing car drivers, including a comment from a driver in the 2004 race relating to Turn 8 on the Adelaide circuit: ‘‘Its very dangerous y It’s hard to change though because we’re on a street circuit and you are stuck to a certain degree to what you’ve got’’. The added danger of street circuits is also recognised as part of the attraction of staging the events in the Adelaide street circuit, as indicated in the following quote from a television race commentator for the 2004 race: ‘‘In summary, turn 8 remains both an exciting and high risk corner. It’s worth the price of admission on site and a great spectacle from your armchair’’.

Case study three: The Gold Coast (Queensland) Queensland’s Gold Coast is known throughout Australia and much of the rest of the world as an alluring tourist destination. Its main function is to provide for the consumption of fun, particularly if this involves sun, sand, surf and shopping. The most developed part of the Gold Coast, and the part that attracts the greatest tourist numbers, is Surfers Paradise. The name ‘‘Surfers Paradise’’ originated as an advertising ploy to market an uninspiring part of the southern Queensland coastline by real estate developers early in the 20th century. This ploy proved to be exceedingly successful, and Surfers Paradise (and Bondi Beach) are now argued to be the beaches that most clearly represent the myth of the Australian beach that dominates the identity of many Australians (Fiske et al., 1987). The Gold Coast is now a favoured destination for international tourists, rivalling such locations as Waikiki or the Riviera, even for high profile tourists. The Gold Coast, and Surfers Paradise in particular, is Australia’s best expression of a culture in which people are encouraged to find their meaning and identity through the consumption of lavish entertainment venues and spectacles. The area is renowned for its high-rise apartment development, for its tourist attractions such as Jupiter’s Casino and theme parks (Dreamworld, Wet’n’Wild, Sea World and Movie World), and now for an annual motor racing event. Thus, through a deliberately managed promotion aimed at tourism and real estate development, the Gold Coast in Queensland is now permeated with an image of excitement, paradise, glamour, international standard accommodation and entertainment, the fast life, and youthful experience. Since 1991 an annual event known as the Gold Coast Indy has been held on a 4.5 km street circuit in Surfers Paradise. This was the first Indy-Car championship staged outside North America. In recent years, the Indy-

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Car race (known also as CART racing—Championship Auto Racing Teams) has been run in conjunction with races for Australia’s V8 Supercars. The Gold Coast V8 Supercar races are now an official component of the V8 Supercar Championship series of races. Like the Grand Prix events in Albert Park, the Indy-Car events in the Gold Coast involve sponsorship by both alcohol and tobacco companies. An international motor racing spectacle appears to fit in to the Gold Coast’s tourist-based economy better than any of the other locations discussed in this paper. However, even if the Indy-Car event at the Gold Coast is seen as compatible with the consumption-based economy of the city, the location of the event still contributes to the exacerbation of the negative health impacts and messages of motor sport. This occurs because of the high density of urban and residential development around the race circuit, as well as because of the way in which the location of the race reinforces the perception that motor sport, and all of its associated activities, should be celebrated. Television coverage of the Gold Coast Indy motorsport events focuses on the unique features of the Gold Coast (and Surfers Paradise) in the promotion of the event. In the 2002 event, the party atmosphere of Surfers Paradise was alluded to in the television commentary with the statement: ‘‘They’ve come in their thousands from all over Australia—for the party and the power y too much fun y catch some Gold Coast colour’’ (Channel 10 Australia, 26 October 2002). The television coverage repeatedly shows scenic shots of the setting of the race, the visual signifiers of the Gold Coast (the sea, waves, surfers, luxury cruisers, sand, rivers, and skyscrapers) all interspersed with colourful racing cars speeding around the Surfers Paradise circuit. The subliminal message is that fast cars, masculine daring, cigarette sponsorship, alcohol advertising and consumption and ornamental women are all an accepted and ‘normalised’ part of the landscape of Australia’s Gold Coast. Even the name ‘‘Surfers Paradise’’ adds to the image of the consumption of fun. The special symbolism of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast that has been actively promoted by successive tourist and real estate developers is now being used to promote motorsport. During the television coverage of the 2003 Lexmark Gold Coast Indy 300, a commentator standing on the beach made an explicit connection between Gold Coast imagery and symbolism and motorsport: What a fantastic view. This is one of the best beaches in the world, and guess what, we’ve got an Indy track just here within walking distance, one of the best tracks in the world. This is a total package, this has all the elements of sun, sand and speed (Channel 10 Australia, October 2003).

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An important health issue associated with the Gold Coast Indy motorsport event is the way in which its location enhances the symbolic imagery and hence the power of sponsorship by tobacco and alcohol companies associated with the event. Researchers have already identified the importance of co-sponsors’ third party advertising for publicity for tobacco companies: ‘‘the symbolic imagery that is linked with particular cigarette brand names may be enhanced when surrounded by other products possessing similar desired symbolic qualities’’ (Dewhirst and Hunter, 2002, p.146). The same principle operates when the symbolic imagery of ‘‘Surfers Paradise’’ on ‘‘the Gold Coast’’ surrounds the tobacco and alcohol sponsorship of the Indy and V8 Supercar motorsports events. Tobacco and alcohol companies benefit from an association of their products with both the glamour of an international event and the exciting image of the Gold Coast—sun, surf and sand. Alcohol, cigarettes and fast cars are presented as an officially sanctioned combination in the Gold Coast. This can be argued to be an important way in which the geography of motorsport contributes to the marketing and image making of health damaging products.

Supercar motor racing series, as well as for products such as full-strength beer. The Parliamentary Zone is imbued with symbols of nationalism. Even for people who do not appreciate the importance of the Parliamentary Zone as ‘‘the place of the people’’ (NCA, 2000), the number of national buildings in the zone contributes to a strong sense of nationalism. Within the Parliamentary Zone lies: Australia’s Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the National Gallery, the National Archives, the National Library and many other national symbols. The motor racing events even provided new identities for particular sections of the Parliamentary Zone, through association with race sponsors. For example, one corner of the race circuit, adjacent to Parliament House, was renamed for the races as ‘‘Victoria Bitter Corner’’, providing a clear association of beer, fast (Australian) cars and powerful national symbolism (see Plate 1). The health impacts and messages of motorsport events in the Parliamentary Zone are similar to those

Case study four: The Parliamentary Zone, Canberra Locations with national significance can enhance the impacts of motor racing on health by allowing national symbolism to be used to help promote health damaging messages and impacts. The most obvious example of this is the motor racing that occurred in the Parliamentary Zone, Canberra. Three motor racing events were held in this zone during the June long weekends of 2000, 2001 and 2002. The main feature of these events was a V8 Supercar event: the Canberra 400. The Parliamentary Zone is arguably Australia’s most significant national place, a symbolic place for cultural, legal and governmental uses. According to the Parliamentary Zone Review (NCA, 2000), the Parliamentary Zone should be given meaning as: The Place of the People, accessible to all Australians so that they can more fully appreciate the collective experience and rich diversity of this country (NCA, 2000, iv). When major motorsport events were staged in the Parliamentary Zone, large parts of this zone changed from a true ‘public space’ with free access for all Australians (and visitors), into a ‘commercial space’, for which people were required to pay an entry fee. Supporters of these motorsport events argued that they would help promote Canberra to the rest of the world (Cegielski and Mules, 2002). However, the location of these motorsport events in a place of strong national symbolism also provided excellent publicity for the V8

Plate 1. ‘‘Victoria Bitter Corner’’ in the Canberra 400 racing circuit in Australia’s Parliamentary Zone. Australia’s Parliament House provides a nationalistic backdrop for beer advertising.

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of the events in Melbourne and Adelaide discussed above. The difference is that Canberra’s V8 Supercar events imply support for the health damaging effects of motor racing at a national rather than a city or state level. The advertising slogan for the V8 Supercar races, ‘‘The Nations Heart is Racing’’, cleverly exploited the national significance of the race. The Federal Parliament of Australia had to approve the motor racing events. In doing so, it could be seen as giving its implicit support to all the messages and impacts associated with these events, including those that undermine public health.

Conclusion This paper has argued that the geography of motor racing in Australia is a significant factor in the impact of this sport on public health. Allowing motorsport events to be held in significant public places indicates that particular values are dominating Australian society. ‘‘The look and feel of cities and city spaces reflect decisions about what should be visible in them y and uses of power to legitimate the visible’’ (Lowes, 2002a). The glorification of motor racing indicates that our society privileges speed, movement, power, private profit, energy wasteful activity and spectacular consumption. The glorification of motorsport events by allowing their location in significant places undermines the values of sustainability and the promotion of public health. The Canadian sociologist Jean Harvey poses a useful question: Is the city a place to live or a showcase? (Harvey, 2002). When motorsport events are located in symbolically important urban public places, this leads to the loss of these as truly ‘‘public’’ space. They become privatised spaces, subject to the demands of the marketplace, and this occurs for much longer periods than for the period of the race itself. For several months each year, places such as Melbourne’s Albert Park lose much of their role as urban parks, and become construction sites before they become racing circuits. To this end, do we preserve the truly public quality of urban public spaces for the well being of our citizens, or do we promote world-class sports entertainment spectacles in these spaces to attract tourist consumers (as is the prevailing philosophy among business and political elites)? This question is a major dilemma for urban policy on an international scale. The location of some of Australia’s most spectacular motorsport events in urban parks and downtown public spaces indicates that state and federal governments are willing to place health damaging events in significant places, places that have been imbued with a special meaning. As our case studies have shown, this special meaning has been developed either through a deliberate planning process (the Parliamentary Zone), through the

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historical development of tourism (the Gold Coast) or through the long-term use of parkland for health supporting activities (e.g. Albert Park). The case studies illustrate how the impacts of motorsport events on public health have been strengthened by the specific characteristics of their locations. The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and the various motor racing events in downtown Adelaide have benefited from the status implied by being staged in highly valued parkland in an inner city location that also maximises the localised health impacts of the events. The Indy-Car events in the Gold Coast enjoy the association with Australia’s most powerful symbol of sun, sand, surf and excitement. Finally, Canberra’s V8 Supercar events invoke nationalistic symbolism through their location in what is arguably Australia’s most significant planned national place. The television coverage of all these motorsport events repeatedly emphasised the symbology of the location of the events. Even if political and business leaders are aware of the negative health implications of motor sport, they may justify their location in significant public places by arguing that the economic benefits from the large scale event tourism of major motor racing spectacles compensates for any negative impacts. However, we conclude this reasoning is flawed for two reasons. First, it is based on a value judgement that economic benefits can justify health-damaging impacts; this is akin to suggesting that tobacco companies should be supported because they provide employment. Second, the belief that spectacular motorsport events are economically beneficial has been questioned by recent research. An analysis of the economic benefits of Canberra’s motor racing events indicates that, rather than having a positive impact, the events imposed an economic burden on the Canberra taxpayers (Parkinson, 2002). Thus, it is possible that as well as undermining the health of individuals and the health of the environment, motor sports spectacles in urban locations may well be undermining the health of the urban economy. Supporters of motorsport events argue that these events help boost the image of the city, even to the extent of confirming a city’s image as a world class city. However this argument can also be reversed. The significance of the city, and the particular public space within that city, can be used by the motor racing organisers to boost the image of the sport of motor racing. Locating motor racing events in a significant public place gives status and prestige to motorsport and all of its associated messages and impacts. Business and cultural elites should not simply accept the argument that large-scale motorsport events are ‘good for the city’ or ‘good for the state.’ They should consider an alternative perspective: that the location of motorsport events is a crucial aspect of the promotion of motorsport, and of all its associated interests.

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Sport is undoubtedly an integral component of Australian society; it is part of Australia’s cultural identity. It seems understandable then, that sporting events would be given pride of place in our major cities. However, if city, state and national governments are serious about a policy agenda which ranks public health above the profits of private companies, then there are grounds for being selective about the types of sporting events that are allowed to be staged in a city’s significant public spaces.

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