Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 18.3
Access mechanisms and ideology.
Source:
Groome 1993, p. 159.
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allocating demand between alternative
recreation facilities;
pastoral idyll, an acceptance of certain cultural
symbols such as old houses, antiques, health foods
and real ale, and an enjoyment of outdoor pursuits
such as jogging, cycling, fly-fishing, windsurfing
and mountaineering (Urry 1988:41).
These traits of the service class are part of a
'decentring' of identity in which people lead more
eclectic lives, unshackled by the legacy of tradition
or collective expectation, responding freely to the
marketplace. This eclecticism, a characteristic of
post-modernist society, has developed new forms
of leisure consumption, often associated with the
'spectacle' of theme parks, medieval 'fayres', pop
festivals and 'living' museums, and coexisting with
more traditional forms of rural leisure (Getz 1991;
Janiskee and Drews 1998; Urry 1991). A crucial
aspect of the new leisure consumption is the
attachment of commercial value to items
previously largely ignored by recreationists or not
offered for sale by entrepreneurs, a process termed
'commodification' (Hopkins 1998; see Box 18.3).
There has been increased commodification of
the countryside, giving rise to a series of new
markets for countryside commodities, including
the crafting, packaging and marketing of 'pay-as-
you-enter' national parks and theme parks (see
Plate 18.1), craft and food outlets and 'leisure
experience' activities. Increasingly, via
deregulation and privatisation, leisure
commodities are being sold by the private sector
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achieving certain objectives within the
provision of countryside recreation. This can
include differential pricing to divert users
from one facility to another, resource
protection and variable pricing to smooth
random patterns of use.
Various combinations of these roles have been
applied widely in North America, usually in
conjunction with additional financial support
from general taxes, specific bond issues or taxes
and grant-in-aid (Robinson 1990:262-5).
Rural recreation and commodification of
the countryside
Harrison (1991) argues that the demands for
wider access to the countryside by the urban
populace have been largely ignored because of the
'drawbridge' mentality of new rural residents.
These are the so-called service class or middle-
class urbanites who have migrated to the
countryside seeking a romanticised rural idyll,
which must not be disturbed by urban-based
recreationists (Cloke and Thrift 1987). The service
class has developed certain attributes of taste that
have been influential and widely adopted by other
consumers of rural spaces, e.g. a reverence for the
