Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
concerted attention was first directed towards this
topic (Coppock and Duffield 1975; Simmons
1975). Geographers played an important part in
assessing the characteristics of sites/ areas
supplying recreation and in initial attempts to
measure demand for recreation (Lavery 1971; Wall
1972), with more sophisticated methods being
developed over time (Rodgers 1993; Veal
1987:125-56), including assessments of the
monetary cost of recreation (Bateman 1995).
The pioneering Clawson method placed a cost
on the visit to a recreational site and explained
levels of use in terms of that cost (Clawson 1981).
This involved examining the origins of and
distances travelled by visitors to a site and
calculating an assumed cost for that trip. However,
such estimates are prone to error, and it may not
be travel costs that are regarded by recreationists as
the most important ones (Field and Macgregor
1987:179-80). Related work on recreational
carrying capacities was also pioneered in the 1970s
(Brotherton 1973). Subsequently, analysis has
moved on to a deeper consideration of provision
and access. For example, Harrison (1991)
examined the way in which the interests of
landowners, private property rights and efforts by
planners to provide controlled access to key sites
have combined to reinforce the attraction of
'honeypot' sites to the general public.
Empirical studies have provided an
understanding of patterns of activity and
consequent demands on land and water resources,
