An introduction to recreational land use

The purpose of this book is to discuss the development and management of land for recreation. It is only coincidentally concerned with the extent to which a recreational use may be more appropriate or less appropriate than a non-recreational use. The term ‘recreational land use’ is a generic description denoting specific activities and pursuits, which may range from informal recreation in the countryside to more formalized leisure pursuits in an urban setting such as a sports complex, cinema or gambling casino. Recreation does not fit comfortably with some of the conventional criteria used to stereotype land uses. Distinctions between rural and urban land uses may be blurred – recreational enterprises embrace developments of an urban nature in a rural setting and green open-space within an urban setting. There is wide variation in the life cycle of recreation enterprises: obsolescence may quickly render some worthless while others may endure for generations. The full spectrum of activities which may fall within the category of recreation is very broad. Consequently, a correspondingly wide variety of opportunities, expectations, constraints and pitfalls must be appreciated by the manager of land to be used for recreation.