Vital Cities Challenge: Literature review report

This report documents the results of a systematic literature review which helps distil key recommendations on what practices hold the potential to be innovative and successful on developing vital cities and physically active citizens. The abundance of literature in this field has resulted in several systematic reviews. Instead of repeating these works, it was more efficient to review the systematic reviews. This report provides an overview of all systematic reviews in the field that have been conducted since 2007, the year that marks the European Commission’s White Paper on sport.
The systematic search was carried out on 2nd July 2021, and 67 articles were integrated into the review. The results are divided into five themes. These are: built environment (30 reviews), multi-strategic community wide interventions (17 reviews), inclusive interventions (9 reviews), mobile/smartphone applications (7 reviews) and a fifth theme with the other topics. The key findings and recommendations for each theme are reported as well as the key emerging areas within each topic.
The conclusion of this review draws connections between the findings in this study and the Human Capital Model (HCM). The extensive evidence from all the available reviews supports the theory that all six parts of the human capital model are connected in a synergistic feedback network. The conclusions of the review address implications for city sport policies and offer recommendations for future projects or programs.