Recreation Planning

Simply defined, recreation refers to experiences and activities chosen and pursued by the individual in
his/her free time (Northern, 1979). Recreation is any pursuit engaged upon during leisure time, other than
pursuits to which people are normally 'highly committed' Recreation is considered as activity through which
leisure may be experienced and enjoyed but it is also seen as a social institution, socially organised for social
purposes (Grant and Allan, 1990). Any activity pursued during leisure, either individual or collective, that is
free and pleasureful, having its own immediate appeal, not impelled by a delayed reward beyond itself, or by
any immediate necessity is recreation (Farchild, 1970).
Recreation is an essential part of human life and finds many different forms which are shaped naturally by
individual interests but also by the surrounding social construction. Recreational activities can be communal
or solitary, active or passive, outdoors or indoors, healthy or harmful, and useful for society or detrimental
(Allan, 1983). A list of typical activities could be almost endless including most human activities, a few
examples being reading, playing or listening to music, watching movies or TV, gardening, hunting, hobbies,
sports, studies, and travel. Not all recreational activities can be considered wise, healthy, or socially
acceptable or useful—examples are gambling, drinking, or delinquent activities.

Importance of Recreation
The importance of recreation includes the following:
• Recreation is important in promoting quality of life;
• It increases self esteem and confidence;
• It gives people the opportunity to make their own choices;
• It gives satisfaction, enjoyment and pleasure;
• It enables us to become involved and be part of the community;
• It increases the opportunity to gain and develop new friendships;
• It allows us to be challenged, take risks and experience new things;
• It bridges the gap between attending and participating in the community;
• It allows people to contribute their skills and feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment;
• It provides an opportunity to develop new friendships;
• It promotes friendships through shared experiences;
• It helps someone feel a part of the community;
• It allows people to have an active role in the community, to make friends, and to feel empowered;
• It allows people to learn about themselves;
• They can discover what kinds of activities they like and what they are good at;
• It is a great stress reducer and can even help to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression; and
• It allows people an opportunity to laugh and feel happyl.

Types of recreation
Active recreation refers to a structured individual or team activity that requires the use of special facilities,
courses, fields, or equipment that can provide communities with opportunities to participate in sports like
Baseball, Football, Soccer, Golf, Hockey, Tennis, Skiing and Skateboarding (Allan, 1983). Active
recreational opportunities offer economic and social benefits that include local economic development and
improved physical, mental, and social health. It includes recreation activities that are usually rigorous, not
quiet, and have a noticeable impact on the surrounding environment. These may include individual or team
sports, large picnic grounds, children’s playgrounds, and recreational events with a high density of people
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(Grant and Allan, 1990). Parks that provide active recreation commonly include tennis, volleyball and
basketball courts; swing sets, playgrounds, and tot‐lots; or fields for team sports such as football, soccer, and
baseball/softball. Active recreation parks can be quite small, as in the case of a table tennis space, or they
can cover large areas, as in the case of a sports field complex.
Passive recreation refers to recreational activities that do not require prepared facilities like sports fields or
pavilion that can provide communities with opportunities like Hunting, Camping, Hiking, Wildlife viewing,
Observing and photographing nature, Picnicking, Walking, Bird watching, Historic and archaeological
exploration and Fishing (Allan, 1983). Passive recreational activities place minimal stress on a site’s
resources; as a result, they can provide ecosystem service benefits and are highly compatible with natural
resource protection (Grant and Allan, 1990). It includes recreation activities that are usually quiet and not
rigorously athletic, and have a low impact on the surrounding environment. These activities may include
hiking, fishing, bird watching, and quiet picnicking. Parks that provide passive recreation may include trails,
public gardens or memorial parks, open areas, and picnic areas. Passive recreation parks have natural or
scenic significance, containing a stream, woodland, or historically significant resource. County or state
facilities are primarily designed for passive recreation and may require a further distance to travel.

Recreation resources
Recreation resources are those features in a setting that define a person’s experience, such as the natural and
cultural resources and special values attached to an area, facilities, infrastructure, personnel, and
management regulations and actions. Recreational activities may include hiking, fishing, beachcombing,
spelunking, and boating. Recreational opportunities and resources can be a very important component of an
area’s economy and the lifestyle of its residents. Recreational resources analyzed in this module are
primarily assets pertaining to the physical geography of this region (Sylvester, 2008). It starts from
mountains to the oceans, and terrains in between (Grant and Allan, 1990). There are various man-made
recreational resources in urban and semi-rural settings as well. Recreation resources can therefore be
grouped into (Allan, 1983):
(i) Natural Recreation Resources, and
(ii) Man-made Recreation Resources

Recreational resources may be organized into categories with similar uses grouped in parentheses such as:
trails (pedestrian hikes, mountain bike trails, “boonie stomping,” or hiking through “boonies” of large areas
of undeveloped forests and beaches); historic and cultural attractions (historic monuments, parks, and
cultural sites); scenic points (vistas, lookouts, and overlooks); dive spots (snorkeling, self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus, or SCUBA diving, and free diving); beaches and parks (also including
conservation areas, preserves, and refuges); spelunking, or cave exploration; fishing; and others (golf
courses, hunting, sailing, resorts offering day uses, and marine activities not listed above, etc.) (Sylvester,
2008). However, a particular resource may provide several recreational opportunities. For instance, a
resource organized under trail may offer hiking as well as swimming, snorkeling, and picnicking at the trail
terminus.

Natural Recreation Resources

A natural recreation resource is any asset that we can obtain from our environment: water, soil, plants, wind,
animals, minerals, wind and sun among many others which are useful for mans’s recreation activities
(Smith, 1993). A distinction is often made between renewable and non-renewable natural recreation
resources. A renewable natural recreation resource is one that can regrow, or whose supply can be
replenished, through natural processes (Smith, 1993). Some examples of renewable resource include plants,
animals, insects or wind. But being renewable does not mean that these resources automatically last forever.
If the renewable resources in a particular area are overexploited for a long period of time, it is entirely
possible that they may become endangered or even disappears altogether.
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The term 'non-renewable' refers to recreation resources whose natural regeneration cycle is extremely long
(Fontaine, 2000). For example, fossil fuels and soils do regenerate, but this takes thousands of years. As a
result, non-renewable resources are generally regarded as finite, and their consumption as 'irreversible (Estes
& Henderson, 2003). A non-renewable natural resource is one that can be used up, one that will not
replenish itself. Examples of these include oil, coal, minerals or rocks.

Demand and Supply for Recreation Resources

Demand of Recreation Resources
The concept of demand has a somewhat ambiguous meaning in social science and in planning and
management of recreation. Demand analyses for recreation serve to indicate what people do, how people
feel and what people want in the way of open space and recreation (Sievänen, 1998). Likewise, it is the rate
of visitation to recreation sites, rate of participation in various recreation activities, economic values,
political pressure from providers and users of resources, and public opinion and preferences expressed
through public involvement and in terms of sense of place (Brian, 2005). Although each of these measures
and information sources contributes to an understanding of recreation demand, each presents an incomplete
picture of demand if considered in isolation. In other words, no single measurement of demand can address
the full range of issues confronting recreation resource use and policy (Pouta1, Sievänen & Heikkilä, 2000).

Factors Affecting Demand for Recreational Resources

Certain factors are responsible for the demand of recreational facilities. These influencing factors of
recreational facilities are diverse in nature and the diversity may be due to the background of the people,
their orientation, and also to the regional variation that may occur from one place to another (Bergstrom &
Cordell, 1991). Notable among these is the working time, gender difference, prevailing culture, legal
restriction.

Methods for Assessing Recreation Demand

1. Political Processes: Historically, demand and need for open space and recreation has been registered
most often through political processes in the way of public attempt to influence political decisions affecting
recreation. This kind of public influence has been felt at all governmental levels, particularly with regard to
allocation and specific decision making.
2. Public participation in recreation planning represents one means for reaching an understanding of
community demand and need for open space and recreation. Consultation with individuals and
representatives from organized groups should be an important part of the development of demand and need
analyses.
3. Public hearings: Generally, it is a requirement of all public projects, particularly those involving state
and federal funding, that public hearings be held for the purpose of allowing interested parties to voice their
opinions. Minutes are generally kept and these may serve as a valuable resource to the recreation planner
who is interested in how the public has reacted in the past with regard to individual recreation and open
space projects. Consultation with elected community representatives such as town meeting members,
eldermen, or council members may prove fruitful.
4. The organization of public advisory committees: These committees could include representatives from
several groups.

Supply of Recreation Resources

The supply of outdoor recreational resources according to Bergstrom and Cordell (1991) involves a complex
combination of natural amenities, public recreation sites, and private recreational activities that are
influenced by an array of factors to provide opportunities for leisure experiences thus satisfying local
recreational needs and desires. The first step in the preparation of needs analyses consists of compiling a
detailed inventory of all existing open space and recreation facilities. To the extent possible, such an
inventory should include both those publicly and privately owned. An inventory of this type, if properly

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organized and researched, can provide important indications of community recreation participation and
ultimately the adequacy of existing recreation resources (United States Department of Transportation, 2003).

Factors Affecting Supply of Recreational Resources

According to Araujo (2002), the factors which should be detailed in assessing recreational resources fall into
two basic categories: those describing the physical characteristics of each site, and those that directly or
indirectly affect recreation usage. These are listed below:

I. Physical characteristics of each recreation site such as location, acreage, ownership, agency responsible
for management, significant natural features, rare vegetation or wildlife, rock outcrops, hills, forested areas,
water resources, wetland, significant man-made features, playing fields, club houses, swimming pools,
tennis or basketball courts, hiking or nature trails, condition of facilities
II. Factors affecting usage for each recreation site such as activities supported, programs offered, capacity
of facilities and programs, times used (day-night), periods of intensive use, proximity to similar facilities,
type and availability of transportation, demographics of users.

Condition of Facilities
The organization and presentation of this information will affect its use for further study. There are several
formats which can be used successfully. Most consist of a combination of mapping, verbal description and
tabular listing of characteristics. To further facilitate the use of this information, it is often wise to record
supply data in terms of neighborhood designations such as planning districts or census tracts. Not only does
this have implications with regard to the accessibility of various recreation facilities, it provides a medium
through which demographic information about potential recreation users may be easily obtained.

Recreation Planning Standard

Introduction
Planning for recreation is all about evaluating the demand, (both the real or present demand) and the future
demand, evaluating the land capability to meet those demands, and about utilizing the resources that are
available wisely (Chiesura, 2004). The aim of recreational planning is to achieve a balance between the
available resources and the needs of the people, based on the objectives of the planning body so as to
enhance the life of the inhabitants. It demands that the need, aspiration and interests of people to be served
are taken into consideration. Planning is for the people and recreation must be built around the desires and
interests of the people for effective participation on the park and its users (Butler, 1940).
The main purpose of recreation is basically the relaxation and revitalization of people so that they may
efficiently return to their routine activities, which are not recreational but economically gainful (Chiesura,
2004). It involves physical, mental and emotional activities. It can reward the participants in terms of
intellectual, physical and social growth, better health, improved citizenship and other qualities of personal
development.

Principles of Recreation Planning

In recreation planning, certain principles have been established to maintain a level of considerable standard
in the planning of recreation facilities (Dong and Dong, 2011).
(a) Quantity: Sufficient open space and recreation facilities should be provided to meet the demand for the
most popular activities, the ‘core activities’, within each area. Should there be scope, the range of facilities
should be widened to enable provision be made for special activities.
(b) Quality: Recreation facilities and open space provided should be of a high quality, in terms of facilities,
layout and design, which meet the needs and aspirations of the users. They should also meet environmental
standards, and contribute to good civic design.

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(c) Good Practice: To provide easy access, encourage optimum usage and enable complementary
improvements to the environment, open space and recreation facilities should be provided within an
integrated recreation and open space framework incorporating continuous pedestrian and/or cycle links. In
pursuing this objective, it may be necessary in some situations to exceed the minimum limits set for the
standards of provision.
(d) Vision: Planning requires vision, so does the planning for recreation facilities and open space. In
deriving a vision for the area, consideration should be given to attributes such as function(s) of the area (e.g.
whether it is principally a residential and/or tourist area); location and physical characteristics; population
structure and socio-economic characteristics; recreation potential and opportunities particularly any
attractive recreation spots; level of existing facilities and areas of shortfall; flexibility in the use of facilities
including dual or multiple use; accessibility of facilities; scope for private development; scope for special
facilities; and provision and accessibility of facilities for special groups such as the disabled.

Factors for consideration in design:

Character: the promotion of character is by responding to and reinforcing locally distinctive patterns of
development, landscape and culture
Continuity and enclosure: a place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished; the promotion
of continuity of street frontages and enclosure of space by development which clearly defines public and
private areas
Quality of the public realm: a place with attractive and successful outdoor areas; the promotion of spaces
and routes that are attractive, safe, uncluttered and work effectively for all in society, including children, the
disabled and the elderly
Ease of movement: a place that is easy to get to and move through; the promotion of accessibility and local
permeability by making places connect with each other which are easy to move through, putting people
before traffic and integrating land uses and transport
Legibility: a place that has a clear image and is easy to understand: the promotion of legibility through
development that provides recognisable routes, intersections and landmarks to help people find their way
around
Adaptability: a place that can change easily; the promotion of adaptability through development that can
respond to changing social, technological and economic conditions; this is especially important for
children’s play provision.
Diversity: a place with variety and choice: the promotion of diversity and choice through a mix of
compatible developments and uses that work together to create viable places that respond to local needs
(Chiesura, 2004).

Recreation Facilities
Recreation facilities are physical improvements designed for personal exercise and sport. The development
of these facilities requires the installation of hard surfaces or structural improvements that modify the natural
environment.
In the context of specific facilities for outdoor sport and play, the following principles apply:
a. Users’ potential experience and enjoyment should be at the forefront of design considerations at all
times
b. Facilities for outdoor sport and play should be an equal and integral part of the design process from
the outset, particularly considering the need for children to be able to access places independently as
they grow and develop
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 c. The community, including children and young people in particular, should be involved at the earliest
possible stage
d. Facilities should be as accessible as possible to as many potential users as possible
e. Facilities should be easy to access by pedestrians and cyclists and that access should be separate
from major vehicle movements
f. Facilities should be attractive and welcoming and sited in open locations, easily observable by non-
users, and designed with regard to the principles of crime prevention
g. Facilities should be sited on land suitable (in terms of location and topography) for the intended
use(s)
h. Facilities should be designed with their primary purpose paramount, but with a view to as much
multi-functionality as is possible without compromising the primary purpose
i. Play and recreation facilities for children and young people should provide as much risk and
challenge as is appropriate, without putting users in danger of serious harm
j. Measures should be taken, such as providing appropriate buffer zones and ensuring that facilities do
not enable users to overlook neighbouring properties, to ensure that the possibility of conflict with
local residents and those at play is minimized
k. Design should take account of industry standards, with an informed view taken to risk assessment
and management where standards either do not apply or are considered inappropriate
l. Design should incorporate appropriate best practice and the possibility of appropriate innovation
m. Ease of maintenance and quality management should be considered and account taken of intended
life-span, environmental and operational sustainability and repair and replacement requirements;
overall, give full consideration to value-for-money.

Recreation Project Policy Formulation

Policy formulation refers to the process of choosing the most appropriate course of action for the realization
of organizational goals and objectives and thereby achieving the organizational vision (Doern & Phidd,
1988). A recreation project policy, according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, is: "...a
formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control. It is a statement of how
and when a project's objectives are to be achieved, by showing the major products, milestones, activities and
resources required on the project. The primary uses of the recreation project policy are to document
assumptions and decisions, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and document approved scope,
cost, and schedule baselines. A recreation project policy may be summarized or detailed". The objective of a
recreation project policy is to define the approach to be used by the Project team to deliver the intended
project management scope of the project. At a minimum, a recreation project policy answers basic questions
about the project:
• Why? - What is the problem or value proposition addressed by the project? Why is it being
sponsored?
• What? - What is the work that will be performed on the project? What are the major
products/deliverables?
• Who? - Who will be involved and what will be their responsibilities within the project? How will
they be organized?
• When? - What is the project timeline and when will particularly meaningful points, referred to as
milestones, be complete?

The recreation project policy typically covers topics used in the project execution system and includes the
following main aspects:
• Scope Management
• Requirements Management

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 • Schedule Management
• Financial Management
• Quality Management
• Resource Management
• Stakeholders Management
• Communications Management
• Project Change Management
• Risk Management
• Procurement Management
Project Scope
"The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features
and functions.

Requirements management
Requirement management specifies the process of documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing and agreeing
on requirements and then controlling change and communicating to relevant stakeholders (Doern & Phidd,
1988). It is a continuous process throughout a project. A requirement is a capability to which a project
outcome (product or service) should conform. The purpose of requirements management is to ensure that an
organization documents, verifies, and meets the needs and expectations of its customers and internal or
external stakeholders. Requirements management begins with the analysis and elicitation of the objectives
and constraints of the organization. Requirements management further includes supporting policing for
requirements, integrating requirements and the organization for working with them (attributes for
requirements), as well as relationships with other information delivering against requirements, and changes
for these (Grant and Allan, 1990).

Schedule Management
Schedule is a listing of a project's milestones, activities, and deliverables, usually with intended start and
finish dates (Marshall & Cashaback, 2001). Those items are often estimated in terms of resource allocation,
budget and duration, linked by dependencies and scheduled events. A schedule is commonly used in
recreation project policy and project portfolio management. Elements on a schedule may be closely related
to the work breakdown structure (WBS), the Statement of work or a Contract Data Requirements List.
Before a project schedule can be created, the schedule maker should have a work breakdown structure
(WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a resource list with availability for each resource. If these
components for the schedule are not available, they can be created with a consensus-driven estimation
method like Wideband Delphi. The reason for this is that a schedule itself is an estimate; each date in the
schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the people who are going to do the work,
the schedule will be inaccurate.

In order for a project schedule to be healthy, the following criteria must be met:

• The schedule must be constantly (weekly works best) updated.

• The EAC (Estimation at Completion) value must be equal to the baseline value.
• The remaining effort must be appropriately distributed among team members
Finance Management
This deals with the allocation of assets and liabilities over time under conditions of certainty and
uncertainty. Finance also applies and uses the theories of economics at some level (Marshall & Cashaback,
2001). Finance can also be defined as the science of money management. A key point in finance is the time
value of money, which states that purchasing power of one unit of currency can vary over time. Finance
aims to price assets based on their risk level and their expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into
three different sub-categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance.

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Quality management
Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service is consistent. It has four main
components: quality policing, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Quality
management is focused not only on product and service quality, but also on the means to achieve it. Quality
management, therefore, uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more
consistent quality. The International Standard for Quality management (ISO 9001:2008) adopts a number of
management principles that can be used by top management to guide their organizations towards improved
performance.

Resource management
This is the efficient and effective deployment of resources when they are needed. Such resources may
include financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or information technology (IT).
In the realm of project management, processes, techniques and philosophies as to the best approach for
allocating resources have been developed. These include discussions on functional vs. cross-functional
resource allocation as well as processes espoused by organizations like the Project Management Institute
(PMI) through their Project Management Body of Knowledge methodology of project management.
Resource management is a key element to activity resource estimating and project human resource
management (Clark, Jones and Holling, 1979). Both are essential components of a comprehensive project
management policy to execute and monitor a project successfully

Communications management
Communications management is the systematic policing, implementing, monitoring, and revision of all the
channels of communication within an organization, and between organizations; it also includes the
organization and dissemination of new communication directives connected with an organization, network,
or communications technology. Aspects of communications management include developing corporate
communication strategies, designing internal and external communications directives, and managing the
flow of information, including online communication (Clark, Jones and Holling, 1979). New technology
forces constant innovation on the part of communications managers.
In recreation project management, communication management must address the following questions:

• What information needs to flow in and out of the project?

• Who needs what information?
• When is the information needed?
• What is the format of the information?
• Who will be responsible for transmitting and providing the information?
Change management
Change management is an approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations to a desired future
state (Marshall & Cashaback, 2001). In a project management context, change management may refer to a
project management process where in changes to the scope of a project are formally introduced and
approved (Clark, Jones and Holling, 1979).

Risk management
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and
economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of
unfortunate events (Clark, Jones and Holling, 1979) or to maximize the realization of opportunities.

History/precedents. Experience and precedents often govern the approach to policy development and, to
some extent, likely outcomes.
Institutional structures. Existing institutional structures can have a powerful influence on the policy
process, affecting which institutions take the lead on particular issues, the level of involvement and
communication between policy makers and technical experts, the role of interest groups and community
groups, the balance of power between national and regional interests, and the role of the bureaucracy.
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Culture. The culture can determine which policies and programs are feasible as well as the nature of the
process (e.g., confrontational, consensus seeking).
Timing. If the issue is seen as a crisis requiring immediate action, policymakers may be able to develop new
structures and experiment with novel approaches. If the issue is treated as “business as usual,” then the
bureaucracy is more likely to deal with it in traditional ways. Each of these views explains part of the policy
process and can aid in interpreting actions and results while providing guidance to those who wish to
facilitate the process or direct it in certain ways.

Policy Formulation Circle

The key to a successful project is in the policing (Allan, 1983). Creating a recreation project policy is the
first thing you should be done when undertaking any kind of recreation project. Often recreation project
policing is ignored in favor of getting on with the work (Allan, 1983). However, many people fail to realize
the value of a recreation project policy in saving time, money and many problems. A practical approach to
recreation project policing is presented here. On completion of this cycle, a sound recreation project policing
approach that can be used for future recreation projects is assured.

Step 1: Project Goals

A project is successful when the needs of the stakeholders have been met (Doern & Phidd, 1988). A
stakeholder is anybody directly, or indirectly impacted by the project. As a first step, it is important to
identify the stakeholders in your project. It is not always easy to identify the stakeholders of a project,
particularly those impacted indirectly. Examples of stakeholders are:

• The project sponsor.

• The customer who receives the deliverables.
• The users of the project outputs.
• The recreation project manager and project team.

Step 2: Project Deliverables

Using the goals you have defined in step 1, create a list of things the project needs to deliver in order to meet
those goals. Specify when and how each item must be delivered. Add the deliverables to the recreation
project policy with an estimated delivery date. More accurate delivery dates will be established during the
scheduling phase, which is next.

Step 3: Project Schedule

Create a list of tasks that need to be carried out for each deliverable identified in step 2. For each task,
identify the following:

• The amount of effort (hours or days) required to complete the task.

• The resource, who will carry out the task.

Step 4: Supporting Policies

This section deals with policies you should create as part of the policing process. These can be included
directly in the policy.
Human Resource Policy - Identify by name, the individuals and organizations with a leading role in the
project. For each, describe their roles and responsibilities on the project. Next, describe the number and type
of people needed to carry out the project. For each resource detail start dates, estimated duration and the
method you will use for obtaining them. A single sheet should be created containing this information.

Communications Policy - Create a document showing who needs to be kept informed about the project and
how they will receive the information. The most common mechanism is a weekly or monthly progress
report, describing how the project is performing, milestones achieved and work planned for the next period.

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Risk Management Policy - Risk management is an important part of project management. Although often
overlooked, it is important to identify as many risks to your project as possible, and be prepared if something
bad happens.

Here are some examples of common project risks:

• Time and cost estimates too optimistic.

• Customer review and feedback cycle too slow.
• Unexpected budget cuts.
• Unclear roles and responsibilities.
• Stakeholder input is not sought, or their needs are not properly understood.
• Stakeholders changing requirements after the project has started.
• Stakeholders adding new requirements after the project has started.
• Poor communication resulting in misunderstandings, quality problems and rework.
• Lack of resource commitment.

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