In this study, we investigated the intensity of sport participation in the Netherlands comparing urban and rural areas. Using a socio-ecological theoretical model, we focussed on the extent to which the rural–urban divide in sport participation is explained by micro-level (socio-demographics), meso-level (safety and socio-economic status of neighbourhoods) and exo-level (variety and proximity of sport facilities) characteristics. We tested our theoretical expectations using representative data on 17,910 Dutch inhabitants between 6 and 79 years of age. Our study reconfirmed the importance of individual socio-demographics (micro-level), such as age, education and household income for sports participation. Furthermore, our results showed that weekly sport participation was more common in rural than in urban areas. This rural–urban divide in sport participation especially was attributed to social environmental factors (meso-level); physical conditions of the environment provided no explanation. Our findings should, however, not be taken as a denial of the importance of the physical environment (exo-level). This study was conducted in the Netherlands, a country with a high density, abundant sport facilities and a supportive sport climate. Moreover, variety of sport facilities nearby proved significant in explaining an individual’s monthly sport participation. To conclude, this study enhances our understanding of the rural–urban divide in sport participation and highlights the importance of especially meso-level features in addition to the socio-demographics. It thus may inform policymakers to critically assess sport promotion policies.

This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the current state of physical activity research, focusing on the interplay between built and social environments and their respective influences on physical activity. We comprehensively searched electronic databases to identify relevant studies published between 2000 and 2022. A total of 35 articles have been reviewed based on the research question. The review found that built and social environments influence physical activity, and consideration of people’s perceptions of their surroundings can provide further insight. The literature was summarized, and recommendations were made for future research. Findings suggest that interventions targeting built and social environments can promote physical activity effectively. However, limitations in the literature exist, including a need for more standardization in research methods and consistency in measurement tools.

This article explores the geographical distribution of sport facilities in the Netherlands and evaluates the supply and proximity of such facilities in relation to area level deprivation and urbanity. In today’s context of financial austerity, many municipalities must critically assess their spending on sport provision. Most government funding to sports goes to construction and maintenance of sport facilities, so there is an increasing need for information and indicators by which to gauge the adequacy of such facilities. The current study draws on sports place theory and the deprivation amplification model to examine the presence, variety and proximity of sport facilities in the Netherlands as a whole and according to area level deprivation and urbanity. Data were provided by the Sport Facility Monitor, a national dataset offering geographical information on (nearly) all sport facilities in the Netherlands. These data were linked with population statistics from Statistics Netherlands to allow spatial analyses. Our results indicate that by assessing the distribution of sport facilities in a structured way, relevant information can be obtained for sport facility planning and sport participation policy. Furthermore, our results show that certain standard sport facilities are fairly evenly distributed throughout the Netherlands, irrespective of the local population size. For more specialised facilities, however, higher population thresholds appear to be required. We conclude that, even though there are inequalities in the distribution of sport facilities, the Netherlands overall provides a sufficiently dense sport infrastructure with various types of facilities offered in close proximity to most inhabitants.

The relevance of local sport policy to achieve ‘sport for all’ has been widely recognized. Public spending on sport is seen necessary to keep sport affordable, while specific policy programs are aimed to include groups that lag behind in sport participation. This paper explores the impact of local government’s sport expenditures on sport (club) participation and more particularly its impact on sport (club) participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic positions, in the Netherlands. Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model is used as a theoretical starting point for our analyses and we performed multiple 3-level logistic regression analyses. The analyses were conducted separately for youth and adults using information from a large national population survey enriched with secondary data on municipal sport expenditures and policy programs. Our findings suggest that the effect of sport policy is most substantial for youth sport club participation. For adults, sport participation tends to be negatively associated with municipal sport expenditures and policy programs. With regard to the impact of sport policy on participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic positions, we find that for youth higher municipal sport expenditure is associated with smaller sport club participation differences between higher and lower socio-economic groups. Overall, our results imply that in the Netherlands municipal sport policy does matter, although primarily for youth, in addition to the social environment and socio-economic position of individuals. With these results our study contributes to an evidence-base for sport policy and to the current body of knowledge on explaining differences in sport participation.

Active participation in sport is a leisure-time physical activity. People are free to decide for themselves whether to practice sport and what type of sport to get involved in. Sport participation ...

(2011). Introduction to the Special Issue on Sports participation in Europe. European Journal for Sport and Society: Vol. 8, No. 1-2, pp. 7-13.