Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
post-positivist geography [is such] that the new cultural geography has
emerged and become merged with sociological and cultural studies
analyses which are now combining to investigate the multiplicity of
behaviours, meanings, consumption trends and identities constructed in
and through leisure and tourism.
(Aitchison 1999:30)
The case study below focuses on the sexuality dimension. Given the growing interest in
feminism within the leisure constraints literature (e.g. Henderson 1997) and the concern
with constraints to participation (e.g. Jackson 1994), it is timely to focus on the issue of
fear, derived from Madge's (1997) survey of Leicester's urban park system.
CASE STUDY: The geography of fear and recreational participation implications
for exclusion
Urban parks are estimated to be used by 40 per cent of the British population (Garner
1996) on a regular basis, but critics argue that urban parks as a recreational resource are
being avoided by the general public (Vidal 1994). This is particularly acute for certain
groups of the population (e.g. women, children and ethnic groups), where fear acts as a
constraint on use. As Ravenscroft and Markwell (2000) point out, the accessible nature of
parks to ethnic young people is notable, if they are properly maintained and managed.
This is reiterated by Gobster (2002) in the USA, while notions of environmental justice
and leisure resources emerges from such discussions (Floyd and Johnson 2002), where
certain groups are able to or prohibited from using such resources. In fact Woolley and
Noor-Ul-Amin's (1999) study of Pakistani teenagers' use of public open space in
Sheffield considered the diverse passive and active uses made of these spaces. This adds
a new dimension to the recreational constraints literature. Explanations of the growing
neglect of urban parks within the UK have been related to a decline in public spending,
from 54 per cent of leisure budgets in 1981-82 to 44 per cent in 1991-92 and lower in
recent years, although these statistics need to recognise greater financial efficiencies
derived from contracting out park services.
In the 1990s there was the growing evidence that urban parks were not perceived as
peaceful sanctuaries for recreational and leisure pursuits among the wider population.
Burgess et al.'s (1998a) innovative Greenwich Open Space Project documented the
dimensions of fear. Dimensions included antisocial behaviour among teenagers and
vandalism that reduced local enjoyment and participation. Similar concerns of insecurity,
fear and use of parks and open spaces have also been recorded in Australia (Melbourne
Parks 1983) and North America (R.Taylor et al. 1985; Westover 1985; Solecki and
Welch 1995). Additional research shows how women, black
people, elderly people and the gay community may be excluded from using urban space
as freely as other subgroups of the population (Adler and Brenner 1992; Maitland 1992).
As Burgess et al. (1988a: 472) remarked in the Greenwich context: 'many people
expressed feelings of insecurity and vulnerability in open spaces, reflecting fears of
personal attack and injury. Among the Asian community, these feelings are exacerbated
by the growing incidence of racially motivated attacks in public open spaces'
The
