Social and Cultural Impact of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 2018

This presentation discusses the social and cultural impact of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 2018. It explores the positive impacts such as job opportunities, economic growth, and cultural exchange, as well as the negative impacts such as traffic congestion and noise pollution. The presentation concludes with recommendations for future improvements.

Social and cultural impact of
the Gold Coast
Commonwealth, 2018

The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games,2018
 The Commonwealth Games are conducted every fours years at different destinations. It creates wider social and cultural
impact within the country, the following slides will be discussing about the various impacts of the game and the
recommendations.
 The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was a multilevel sport held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia between the 4 to
15 April, 20818.(gold coast 2018 2018).
 Almost 6,600 athletes, 300 Para-athletes and over 70 Commonwealth Games Association took part in the Gold Coast
Commonwealth, 2018.It provided an unique opportunity for participation into sports activities and creates motivation,
inspiration among the future generation for opting sports as a career option (gold coast 2018 2018).
 The events were held within the vicinity of Gold Coast, it took place in different cities of Brisbane, Carins and Town hill(gold
coast 2018 2018)
 Triathlon made its debut in the gold coast commonwealth of 2018(paralympic.Org 2019).

SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE GOLD
COAST COMMONWEALTH
GAMES,2018: Positive impacts
 The significant investment that was brought help in developing new infrastructure and
investment which in turn created new job opportunities for the people of Gold
Coast(the Guardian 2018).
 Businesses in Australia were increasing and the industrial sector boomed due to the
Gold Coast Commonwealth. This led business growth for the people of Gold
Coast(Pearce & Heers, 2019).
 The job market of Australia especially of Gold Coast had increased. According to data,
there are 67,000 job application for the post of sports coordinators, event coordinators
and village coordinators and for volunteers. (Gold Coast 2018 2018).
 A number of initiatives have been taken at the societal level. For example, the Gold
Coast 2018 Contact Program, which connect the school going children so that they
engage in artistic activities and learn to participate actively in the Commonwealth Gold
Coast 2018. Find the link below(Gold Coast 2018, 2018).
 https://gc2018.com/video/impact-games-future-and-legacy
 People at Gold Coast enjoyed more planned holidays and work from home during the
days of the events and the sell and production of various industries grew to a large
extent due to the influx of tourists. (Pearce & Heers, 2019)
 The impact of the Gold Coast commonwealth on the local residents of Queensland
gave a positive picture. Data shows that people living in that area “really like” the event
even though they find it little crowded during the sport event days (Cdn1-
teq.queensland.com, 2019).
 The Australian Basketball team won gold in the Gold Coast commonwealth which
brought national prestige and pride to the nation (Gold Coast 2018 2018).

Negative social impact of the
Gold Coast Commonwealth,
2018
 One of the negative impacts of the Gold coast
games were the increased traffic, transport and
the renovation that the city goes before the
opening of the event. This led to higher cause of
irritation among the people of gold coast as their
normal life got hampered due to the event(Pearce
& Heers, 2019).
 The event led to isolation and alienation of the
people who do not enjoy watching sports
activities. They were more likely to feel isolated
compared to the people who enjoy watching
sports(the Guardian 2018).
There are large number of complaints being
reported to the city officer regarding the noise
pollution due to conducting the Gold Coast
commonwealth (Embracing2018.com 2019).

Cultural Impact of Gold Coast
Commonwealth games, part: Positive
impacts
 The event acted as a bridge between cultures from all over the world. People at
Gold Coast mingled with the tourist from different cultures which provided them
a chance to interact and know other culture as a result of the event(Pearce &
Heers, 2019).
 For Example, the Gold Coast South port hub where almost 25,000 international
and national students gathered and made network for the Gold Coast
Commonwealth of 2018(Studygoldcoast.org.au, 2019) . This gave a chance to the
students at Gold Coast to have international exposure.
 Due to its nature, the games provided an opportunity for the commonwealth
countries to develop its domestic tourism and showcase its culture in the global
platform. This helped to develop the tourism industry of Australia as a result of
the Commonwealth Games, 2018.It is great measure to develop the layman
knowledge of the distinct cultures of the country.
 It impacted the country’s economy by developing their tourism sector which is a
source of employment for many native Australians and this led to their
increased incentives during the event days. It is estimated that the tourism
sector had $1.2 billion boost due to events conducted at Gold Coast
(Embracing2018.com 2019)
 It served as a link between sport and art by providing enough opportunities for
the local artist to develop and present their talent(CNN 2018)
 It helped to build cultural relation and societal ties between different countries.

Negative impacts on culture
 Large number of people gathered in the city during
the event which led to large crowd. This indirectly
hampered the regular way of life for the people of
Gold Coast(the Guardian, 2018).
 Due to this increased flow of people , there were
chances that the tourists who came by their games
visas, try to fix up with Australian visas for longer
stays. This led to large number of immigrants inflow
into the country in the name of sports. Tourists on
extended visas creates influx of different culture
within the territory (the Guardian 2018).
 Channel seven of the Australian broadcasting were
hampered due to showcasing the medal events
during the event days. It created discontent among
the natives as their daily life were disturbed(the
Guardian, 2018). .

Recommendation and conclusion
 The Gold Coast Commonwealth was an event of $ 2 billion and it caused a huge economic downfall
of the economy(the Guardian, 2018). This huge loss has to be reduced in future.
 The infrastructure and investment for the same are to be developed for the para athletes who still
suffers from lack of proper infrastructure (the Guardian, 2018). The Australian government faced
huge financial burden for conducting the games , which could be shared by countries collectively,
 The Commonwealth has often been seen to have portrayed Australia’s interest and it is them who
poses greater power than any other country. It is the advantage that they enjoy for not only being
the home country that initiated, it is also the who has conducted plenty of Commonwealth games.
hence, the dominance has to be neutralized and other countries should be having a more equal
chance.
 There should be enhanced gender equality in events and an equal number of medals has to be
ensured for both men and women. For example, the 2018 Gold Coast games was the first one in
history of sports to have an equal number of medals for both men and women . The number of
such example should be increased in future.
 A friendly gesture among the participating countries who otherwise share a conflicting bilateral
relationship. For examples, the bilateral issues between India and Pakistan at the international
global forum sometimes hinder the growth and development of a healthy relationship between
these two countries.
 Transport and communication is an issue at Gold Coast made much news at the media, which should
be dealt with proper care and given consideration in future to avoid any kind of communication
breakdown.
 Accommodation was major concern for the visitors at the Gold Coast Commonwealth, there are lack
of proper facilities and infrastructure for the visitors. Hence, accommodation of the visitors should be
given more importance by the Australian governments.

References
CNN 2018. Does the Commonwealth Games have a future?. [online] CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/15/sport/commonwealth-games-2018-
gold-coast-future-of-the-games/index.html [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018].
Commonwealth Games Federation (2018). Teams & Countries. [online] Commonwealth Games Federation. Available at: https://thecgf.com/countries [Accessed
31 Dec. 2018].
Gold Coast 2018 (2018). HISTORY OF THE GAMES | Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. [online] Gold Coast 2018. Available at: https://gc2018.com/history-
games [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Gold Coast 2018 (2018). NATIONS AND TERRITORIES | Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. [online] Gold Coast 2018. Available at:
https://gc2018.com/games/nations-and-territories-OLD [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018].
Gold Coast 2018 2018. SUSTAINABILITY | Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. [online] Gold Coast 2018. Available at:
https://gc2018.com/about/sustainability [Accessed 29 Dec. 2018].
Gold Coast 2018. (2018). Impact of the Games: Future and Legacy | Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. [online] Available at:
https://gc2018.com/video/impact-games-future-and-legacy [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018].
Paralympic.org (2019). Gold Coast 2018: Get ready for the Commonwealth Games. [online] Paralympic.org. Available at: https://www.paralympic.org/news/gold-
coast-2018-get-ready-commonwealth-games [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].
Studygoldcoast.org.au (2019). THE GOLD COAST – A CITY EMBRACING DIVERSITY » Study Gold Coast. [online] Studygoldcoast.org.au. Available at:
https://www.studygoldcoast.org.au/stories/the-gold-coast-a-city-embracing-diversity/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].
the Guardian 2018. Commonwealth Games 2018: 10 things to look out for on the Gold Coast. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/apr/03/commonwealth-games-2018-10-things-to-look-out-for-in-the-gold-coast [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018].
The University of Edinburgh (2019). Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Participants. [online] The University of Edinburgh. Available at:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/sport-exercise/gold-coast-commonwealth-games/gold-coast-commonwealth-games-participants [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].
Cdn1-teq.queensland.com (2019). [online] Cdn1-teq.queensland.com. Available at:
https://cdn1-teq.queensland.com/~/media/2a7b20f6629e4412af571e5fd3aa4927.ashx?vs=1&d=20171214T120547 [Accessed 4 Jan. 2019].
Pearce & Heers (2019). The impact of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. [online] Pearce & Heers. Available at: https://pearceheers.com.au/the-
impact-of-the-commonwealth-games-on-the-gold-coast/ [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].
Embracing2018.com (2019). Ahead of the Games - Economic growth and tourism. [online] Embracing2018.com. Available at:
https://www.embracing2018.com/ahead-of-the-games/economic-growth-and-tourism.php [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].