Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Historically, the research into second homes has focused on motivational, planning,
regional development and impact-related issues. Second homes development has
emerged as a major issue in a number of countries, including Canada, Denmark, Sweden
and Wales where, in some cases, local communities have perceived second home
purchase by 'outsiders' as being socially and economically invasive. However, despite
their economic, social and cultural significance, geographical research on second homes
has been highly variable in terms of regional studies and the maintenance of continued
interest in second homes as a research issue. Two reasons may be put forward for this.
First, the degree of research interest they generate may vary in relation to their value or
impact, whether it be economic, social or environmental. Second, second home research
may well have fallen out of fashion due to the development of other research interests, for
example, the rise of interest in ecotourism. Regardless of these points there exists a large
body of international research focusing specifically on, or around, second homes (Hall
and Müller 2004).
The first major period for research on second homes was in the 1970s. Prior to this
time research was undertaken primarily in North America (especially Canada) and
Scandinavia where there is a strong tradition of second home ownership (Coppock
1977a) (see also the discussion of French geography in Chapter 1). During the 1970s an
increase in the research undertaken from the United Kingdom culminated in Coppock's
(1977a) benchmark publication
Second Homes: Curse or Blessing?
Since the mid-1990s,
there has been renewed interest in second home development as indicated by work in
Australia (Selwood et al. 1995; Selwood and May 2001), Canada (Halseth and Rosenberg
1995; Halseth 1998), Denmark (Tress 2002), New Zealand (Fountain and Hall 2002);
Norway (Kaltenborn 1997a, 1997b, 1998; Flognfeldt 2002), Sweden (Müller 1999,
2002a, 2002b, 2002c, 2002d; Gustafson 2002b; Müller and Hall 2003) and the United
Kingdom (Gallent 1997; Gallent and Tewdwr-Jones 2000), as well as the development of
new comprehensive international overviews of the topic (Hall and Müller 2004; Müller
2004).
Regional economic development is often advocated by local governments as one of
the major benefits of second homes. Second homes provide a means for regional
development through
• increasing direct visitor expenditure to the region (Tombaugh 1970; Ragatz 1977)
• the provision of infrastructure used for both home owners and other tourists (Jaakson
1986)
• the support of service and construction industries (Ragatz 1977; Shucksmith 1983)
• the opportunity for further regional development through owners retiring to their second
home (Deller et al. 1997).
However, despite the opportunities second homes may provide for regional
development, the actual contribution varies from location to location, with no consistent
benchmark available from which to judge the effect that they will have, particularly in the
long term (Fritz 1982). Though the benefits to a region of second home development are
potentially high, they may not always exceed the costs created for government in relation
to increases in waste health care and other services (Teisl and Reiling 1992) as well as
