En plats i planeringen : En studie av områden av riksintresse för det rörliga friluftslivet : [a study of areas of national importance for outdoor recreation]

The subject of this study is physical planning for outdoor recreation - and the way outdoor recreation interplays and competes with other businesses. This thesis is a case-study of four areas of national importance in Sweden: Ljusnan, Indalsälven, Vindelälven och Kalixälven. The first aim of the study is to analyse the way the demand for outdoor recreation regarding the use of land and water is considered in physical planning as expressed in local planning documents. The study shows that outdoor recreation seen as a non-commercial activity is inferior in competing with other economic activities. It is in terms of tourism that outdoor recreation is given status on the local level. The second aim of the study, is to critically examine the criterions for classification of areas of national importance for outdoor recreation and to analyse the way these areas are used. This study shows that visitors to these areas do not visit them primarily because they were designated as areas of national importance for outdoorrecreation. In most cases the visitors had other objectives, for instance they were travelling through the area or they were visiting relatives or friends. The thesis therefore concludes that the use of recreational areas derives from random tourism. Distance and attractiveness of the area have been given as important criterions in the classification of an area as being of national importance for outdoor recreation. To evaluate the impact of distance and attractiveness on recreational travel, a log-linear analysis has been conducted. The results shows that both distance and attractiveness have a statistically measurable effect and therefore are able to explain part of the variations in visitor frequency