Analysis of Outdoor Recreational Patterns of the African Immigrants in Urban Areas in the United States

This project addressed the research question What are the environmental/ outdoor recreation patterns amongst the African immigrants in urban areas in the United States? The study focused on identifying outdoor recreational activities that are undertaken by individuals, families or groups of African Immigrants living in the United states. The research identifies outdoor recreation to be benefit participants socially, culturally, academically, and physically and health. A large number of African immigrants participated through survey to determine the parks and outdoor recreation activities they undertook, focus group discussions was used to get more details on immigrants’ outdoor participation. Additional research methods used included pre-questionnaire and expert interview. The survey showed that the population of African immigrants do not conform to the notion of the solitary wilderness experience. Their preference is to recreate with family members, friends or in a group and in places that may not be considered as wilderness. Most of the participants sampled recreate more in parks and green spaces within their neighborhood than in spaces outside of their neighborhood and state. Even though they spend more time in local parks, there is still a high value for outdoor recreation, with 35.5% of the participants rating that outdoor recreation as “extremely important.” This survey was inspired to create a better understanding of contemporary conditions and the use of parks among African immigrants. The findings of this thesis established African immigrants as a special group in outdoor recreation that needs to be understood. This study opens a new window into marginalized groups’ style of recreating. There were unique experiences in the outdoor recreation choices mainly based on culture and history. These experiences thus emphasize the need to challenge research around outdoor recreation in order to highlight the interaction between minorities and outdoor recreation. This research highlights the need to re- imagine how culture can influence outdoor recreation