The Structure of Public and Private Recreational Systems: Columbia, South Carolina

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Abstract
This investigation has two primary concerns: first, to classify the units of the public and private urban recreation systems into discrete functional classes and identify their basic characteristics, and second, to analyze the distributions of the two systems in terms of absolute and relative locational patterns and compare and contrast their similarities and differences. Data pertaining to 172 public units and 112 private establishments in Columbia, S.C., were subjected to multiple dimensional scaling, Ward's grouping algorithm, and discriminate analysis. The procedure produced a five-class categorization scheme for each system. The classes of the public system differ more in degree than in kind of facilities and serve more general recreation demands. The private system's classes are functionally more discrete because they offer a fairly narrow range of recreation activities. There is marked contrast in the spatial organization of the two systems. Public recreation sites are concentrated in densely populated areas whereas private recreation enterprises are uniformly distributed. The public and private recreation systems are complementary and best understood in context of their purpose, structure, and distribution. The purpose of individual units or classes determines the types of facilities, programs, and activities established (i.e., structure). The structure, along users, the location of users, influences the spatial distribution of specific types or classes of recreation sites.

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