Nike Active Cities

Location

London, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Milan

Scale

Europe

Timeline

2 years

Sector

Corporate Urbanism

Services

Place Vision
Strategic Development
Delivery

Team

Oxford Properties
CapattiStaubach

CHALLENGE

To develop an EMEA-wide strategic initiative uncovering opportunities for Nike to shape the form of future cities and to activate communities all over the world. Over 80 per cent of kids worldwide are not meeting WHO standards on physical activity – and most live in cities. Our challenge was to create an approach that leverages Nike’s unique capabilities in the co-creation of public infrastructure where athletes* can make sport a daily habit again. The second part of the challenge was to develop and deliver the first Active Cities prototype to test the methodology and partnership model.

Hilversum, Nike EHQ

RESPONSE

We began by fully immersing ourselves in the existing work on cities and community impact within Nike, across different teams and departments. We delivered an extensive literature review, tapping into 150 recent academic studies on human behaviour and the built environment. We then translated their findings into an interactive playbook with tools and best practices. This playbook was continuously socialised with stakeholders within Nike to develop sponsorship and momentum.

Next we very carefully tested the hypothesis in different European cities. Blossity leveraged its deep network and socialised this programme with city leaders, investors, and real estate developers with the aim of putting the issue of active cities on the agenda and sourcing opportunities. Combined with data intelligence, we delivered a dashboard with opportunities across EMEA – including design studies for sites in London, Moscow, Paris, Berlin, and Milan.

BERLIN EXPERIENCE HUB

Finally, Blossity coordinated the partnership between Nike and Oxford Properties and developed a first Active Cities prototype in the iconic Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

Working with all stakeholder requirements in this complex urban environment, we designed a permanent installation that features a fully mirrored box on a colourful sports landscape made from recycled Nike shoes. The mirrors put the athlete* centre stage, while the box in the background blends into the surroundings. The Nike Experience Hub is designed to be nature-inclusive, featuring a living green roof with over 200 native mini plants. The unique Nike Experience Hub creates a sense of surprise and draws people closer to sport.

The versatile environment is a social and safe space for her, facilitating a range of movement, from urban dance to yoga and from high intensity training to running. Nike coaches and community partners provide daily training experiences, free of charge and open to all, with intentional programming for her.

THE IMPACT

Through this work, Nike gained an in-depth understanding of both the relationship between human behaviour and the built environment as well as the impact of interventions in the public domain. Through our work Nike was able to socialise this successfully within the enterprise, up to global leadership teams in the US, and launch a sustainable prototype in Berlin.

As in-house consultants, within two years we were able to transform a bold idea into a programme that has now crystalised into the Nike EMEA strategy.