Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Yet despite increased mobility of recreationists, the majority of popular activities are
undertaken relatively near to the home. To expand upon these findings, attention now
turns to classifying and analysing the supply of recreational resources within the context
of the urban fringe.
Classifying recreational resources
In the analysis of recreation patterns, trends and resource use by specific groups, the
complexity of the existing recreation stock requires some form of classification to
improve our understanding (see Fisher et al. 1974; Doren et al. 1979; Gilg 1985). In other
words, the recognition of recreational resources needs to be accompanied by an inventory
process to take stock of the quantity, quality and extent of the resource base. For this
reason, classification schemes have been derived. In the previous section, the preliminary
attempt by Clawson et al. (1960) to derive a classification system distinguished between
recreation areas according to location, activity type, major uses, size of the area and who
was responsible for recreation resource management (Table 3.3). One of the problems
with this classification scheme was that it neglected urban and near-urban sites and
developed a narrow conception of outdoor recreation resources. Even so, this
classification was a critical turning point in recreational thinking, since it spurned
numerous adaptations, stimulating new ways of thinking about classifying recreational
resources.
Although no definitive scheme exists for classifying recreational resources, the need to
distinguish between human-made and natural resources, different resource environments
and resource types provides a useful starting point. In this respect, Chubb and Chubb's
(1981) classification is valuable since it incorporates much of the thinking in recreational
research, building on Clawson et al. (1960) where the following classes of recreation
resources exist:
•
the undeveloped recreation resources,
where the physical attributes of land, water and
vegetation are untouched
•
private recreation resources,
such as second homes, resources owned by quasi-public
organisations (e.g. conservation groups, farm and industrial sites)
•
commercialised private recreation resources,
such as shopping malls, theme parks,
museums, gardens, stadiums and resorts
•
publicly owned recreation resources,
including parks, sports and leisure facilities,
national parks, forest and tourist sites
•
cultural resources,
based in both the public and private sector, such as libraries, the Arts
and what is increasingly being termed 'the cultural industries' (see Pratt 1998)
•
professional resources,
which may be divided into the administrative functions for
recreational provision (organisation, policy-making and financial support systems) and
management (e.g. research, planning, development and conservation/programming
functions).
Other attempts to classify recreational resources have also recognised that a continuum
exists from the home-oriented space through to the neighbourhood (including the street—
see S.Williams 1995) with increasing scale through to community and regional space
