Public Urban Recreation: An Investigation of Spatial Relationships

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Abstract
An investigation of spatial relationships between park density and selected population, family, housing, and economic characteristics lead to three generalizations: park density is greatest at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, the central cities are better served with public recreation facilities than areas on the periphery, and suburbs are largely devoid of formal recreational facilities. The recreational and socioeconomic data used were collected in the urbanized area of Columbia, South Carolina, and four techniques were employed to analyze and describe the relationships: simple and multiple stepwise correlation analysis, linkage analysis, and cartographic analysis. The methodological soundness of the study was discussed with regard to the concept of substitutability, choice of park density as the dependent variable, and approach utilized to relate the dependent and independent variables in a spatial framework. It was noted that the processes of urban sprawl and the racial situation were important forces affecting the distribution of public recreational facilities. It was observed, further, that park density was concentrated in those census tracts with the greatest densities of population, old population, and renters in the central portions of the study area. Finally, five factors which accounted for the lack or public recreation facilities in suburban areas were discussed.

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