The social and behavioral characteristics of recreational facilities planning

The traditional approach to recreational planning and open space rarely, if ever, incorporates the demographic and social factors of a given geographically defined area. This thesis investigates the complex demographic, social and behavioral characteristics of leisure and recreation in the contemporary American industrial society and relates the theory to recreational planning in an applicable fashion. "The Social and Behavioral Characteristics of Recreational Facility Planning" also investigates the more or less accepted recreational planning standards as diverse scales of development and applies these standards to a contemporary case study example of a "new town" of 150,000 people in the Houston Region, presently being planned under the Title VII provision of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, which guarantees federal assistance in planning and development. In the thesis a new conceptual approach to recreational planning of both facilities and open space areas is formulated and then applied to two hypothetical communities, both of 150,000 population in the Houston Region and to the case study example of the Tide VII "new town." The case study example is then compared to the two hypothetical communities using the formulated theoretical approach and then to the application. of the case study example using the traditional planning approach on the basis of satisfied recreational needs, land allocation, land preservation, economic investment and method validity. The most evident conclusion that has been revealed by my thesis, is that the traditional approach to recreational planning does not allow for the differentiation of recreational facilities on the basis of age, income or ethnic background, which I have found to have a great bearing on the type and number of recreational facilities allocated in a given area. Finally, the thesis concludes by summarizing my findings based on both the traditional planning approach and the formulated theoretical planning approach while making recommendations for future recreational planning and research