Beyond the Turnstiles: The evolution of stadia as placemaking devices

FC Barcelona returned to the Camp Nou this weekend. Backed by 45,000 fans in the terraces the Catalan side played host at their usual home for the first time in over 900 days.

Works worth £1.25bn to complete Barça’s home are still underway, which when completed in 2027 will be Europe’s biggest football stadium with a 105,000 capacity. However, Camp Nou aims to be more than a football stadium. The wider Campus Barça project will integrate the stadium into the city with new pedestrianised spaces and create a separate entertainment venue to draw in visitors throughout the year. 

Barça is just one club using their sporting real estate as a placemaking tool. When it comes to new stadia and ground expansions, football clubs are growing more adventurous in enlivening their spaces outside the matchday as an additional revenue stream. With clubs financially squeezed, but fanbases resistant to ticket price increases, there’s a need to diversify revenue in a way that doesn’t curb supporter loyalty. Football clubs are also the cornerstones of many communities and effective stadium development should deepen the role of stadia as shared places rather than once-a-week destinations. 

Eyebrows were raised this October, when reports in The Telegraph claimed Arsenal is plotting to increase the capacity of the Emirates Stadium. But lots has changed in the time since the club’s north London home opened in 2006, which itself was a pioneering example of stadium-led placemaking two decades ago.

At one time believed to be Europe’s biggest regeneration project, developing the Emirates repurposed over 60 acres of derelict land in Islington, creating 3,000 new homes, community facilities, shops and the stadium itself. But on the day-to-day, the Emirates’ immediate surroundings are largely underused.

While ambitious back then, newer projects are pushing how clubs use stadia as placemaking devices further. Fulham FC’s renovation of their Riverside Stand is an example of how football clubs can both make extra non-matchday cash and create space for locals to use as part of regular routines.

The Riverside Stand of Craven Cottage is neatly parked on banks of the Thames and, in very Fulham fashion, its £350m transformation features a private members’ club, boutique hotel and fine dining offer that aims to lure in wealthy locals. Beyond this luxury, redevelopment has also created an everyday destination and open space.

Branded as Fulham Pier, the new public space beside the upgraded terrace is now accessible throughout the week as a food, drink and leisure destination – with DJs subbing in to boost the atmosphere on non-matchdays. There’s a push to define Fulham Pier as place to visit for all Londoners, with full-scale activations – including a debut programme of Christmas lights and events this winter.

The pier also features a new walkway, opening direct access from Bishops Park to the Thames Path, demonstrating how stadia can blend into cities and offer something when the ball isn’t rolling.

At a much larger scale is Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, which has been the catalyst for change in Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore Dock.

A victim of industrial decline, Bramley-Moore Dock is in one of the country’s most deprived neighbourhoods and has suffered from urban decay. Part of the Liverpool Waters regeneration vision, the Hill Dickinson is the lynchpin to a 30-year opportunity to bring Liverpool’s docklands back to life through a business, hospitality, leisure and cultural district hooked around a world-class sporting venue.

Set to host five Euro 2028 fixtures, the £800m stadium is expected draw 1.4m annual visitors to the city through different sport and other events. The Hill Dickinson has already kickstarted opportunity in the area attracting new apartments, bars and hotels to Liverpool’s waterfront to cater for football fans and locals.

Ultimately though, football grounds are for the fans and only time will tell whether the incredibly costly Hill Dickinson elevates the experience for Everton supporters. It’s not clear yet whether the attempt and financial need to create a more rounded destination will enhance the experience for football fans.  Only in recent years have Arsenal fans felt at home at the Emirates, with its masses of concrete now tied to the collective memory of moments for thousands.

It’s important to note that football fans distance themselves from the term ‘customer’. Fan culture prides itself on grittiness, local identity and noise. Modern stadia have been criticised as creating soulless bowls with a fixation on sanitised hospitality experiences, glass frontages and padded corporate seats that don’t directly translate into improved surroundings for regular football fans.

Clubs should be mindful not take their eye off the ball. Moving stadia too far away from the football will damage its primary purpose of seat sales. Empty seats are bad for business and seriously damage the global appeal of the Premier League. Fans tuning in from across the globe want to feel connected their team andloud crowds and full stadia are essential in delivering that connection that is so profitable for clubs.

As clubs rethink what stadia can be, these projects signal a clear shift: football grounds are no longer just the backdrop to 90 minutes, but places that animate cities and stitch together communities beyond matchdays. But from boutique riverside piers to revived docklands, modern stadia also need to ensure they continue serving the generations of football fans that got them there in the first place.