Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
REGIONAL DEMAND FOR LEISURE AND RECREATION IN
LONDON
Within the studies of national recreational demand reviewed in the previous section, it is
clear that the analyses of geographical patterns of demand were relatively scant, given the
tendency for national studies to lack a regional dimension. It is the spatial variations in
demand which are of interest to the geographer, and a number of studies have been
undertaken which utilise the geographer's spatial analytical approach to examine demand
patterns. North-west England is one such area which has seen a significant contribution
made to understanding the scale and nature of regional recreational demand including
evidence in Rodgers' (1969) insights from the
Pilot National Recreation Survey,
Rodgers' (1977) contribution to leisure in the north-west and Rodgers and Patmore's
(1972)
Leisure in the North-West
. A similar study can be achieved through the series of
reports by ONS (2003) entitled
Focus on London
.
London is a world city with a population of around 7 million; in 2002, its residents
took 11.5 million trips abroad, comprising 19 per cent of the total number of trips made
by UK residents. This reflects the economic, political and cultural importance of the city
as a place to live and work, even though Londoners account for only 12 per cent of the
total population of the UK. Many of these trips, undertaken in leisure time and for
business purposes, were to western Europe (7.9 million), with 900,000 trips to the USA
and Canada. This specific use of leisure time for travel overseas is also underscored by a
use of leisure time for many of the purposes discussed above in the UK 2000 Time Use
Survey. In London, watching television, video or DVDs in 2000 varied by age group,
with those aged 8 to 15 years watching 16.9 hours a week, and those aged 16 to 34 years
17.1 hours, to 16.7 hours for those aged 35 to 64 and rising to 25.7 hours a week for those
aged 65 or over. An average of 18 hours a week emerged for all those aged 8 years or
over. These figures are marginally lower than the figures for the UK population, probably
as a result of a more diverse range of attractions and cultural facilities available to them
than the average population. In terms of participation in sport and physical activities, the
majority of sports halls and swimming pools (66 per cent) are in Outer London where 60
per cent of the population reside. Watching football is a major pastime: London is the
home of twelve football teams with between 19,000 and 39,000 attending home matches,
depending on the football club involved and its spectator audience. Cinemas are also a
major pastime too, with London accounting for 176 million cinema admissions in 2002.
Almost 60 per cent of Londoners attended a cinema showing twice a year in 2002. In fact
almost one-third attended the cinema once a month, a much higher attendance rate than
the population as a whole. Similarly, access to other cultural facilities like the theatre was
reflected in higher theatre attendances by Londoners than the UK population. At cultural
events, the theatre, art galleries, pop/rock concerts, classical music performances, jazz
performances, contemporary dance and ballet in that order of significance generated 1
billion attendances in 2002 in London.
In terms of expenditure on leisure, the ONS statistics from the Family Expenditure
Survey in 2001-2 found that:
• London households spent an average of £75 a week on recreation and leisure in 2001-2.
This was 10 per cent higher than the UK population as a whole,
