The barriers to millennials visiting Rouge Urban National Park

Intensified urbanization has led to more populated cities and less green spaces which are vital to community health, wellbeing and conservation. Rouge Urban National Park in Toronto has recently become Canada’s first urban national park. This park is ideally suited to the millennial population, offering outdoor recreation and green space that this growing market generally desires. There is, however, a lack of research into visitor motivations to urban parks and more specifically millennial motivations. Findings from 280 quantitative surveys found three main barriers to visiting the Urban National Park: distance, transportation, and awareness. The lack of public transport combined with road congestion and fewer millennials owning cars creates issues with accessibility. Poor branding and knowledge through electronic media creates low awareness within a demographic market so tied to technology. Keywords: urban national parks; millennials; distance decay theory; visitor motivations; Canada

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Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urban Parks and Their Driving Forces in Xi'an, China from 1949 to 2015

Open House International ◽

10.1108/ohi-03-2017-b0023 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 112-115

Author(s):

Xuhui Wang ◽

Kewei Liu ◽

Kai Wang ◽

Jian Gong ◽

Yanjun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Green Space ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Spatiotemporal Dynamics ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Space Planning ◽

Suburban Areas ◽

Human Wellbeing ◽

Average Size

Urban parks play a key role in recreational activities, public health, and ecosystem services in urban areas. Using GIS and Fragstats, this study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban parks in Xi'an, China from 1949 to 2015 and the corresponding driving forces. The results show that the number and area of parks in Xi'an increased constantly during this period, especially from 2000 to 2015. Up to 2015, small green spaces, usually adjacent to streets, occupied the largest proportion among all types of parks. Archaeological parks were the largest in total area, but wetland parks were leading in average size of a single park. The density of parks was negatively correlated with their distance to the Clock Tower at the center of Xi'an. The dynamics of urban parks in highly urbanized areas were significantly different from that of their counterparts in suburban areas. Driving forces such as urban planning, urbanization and green space policies, and milestone events in the city's development jointly had a great effect on the distribution of parks in Xi'an. The research outcomes will support the upcoming Green Space Planning of Xi'an and benefit the pursuit of sustainability and human wellbeing.

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Peri-Urban National Parks as Green Spaces for Recreation

International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development ◽

10.4018/ijsesd.2019010104 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 46-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Teodora Koynova ◽

Vanya Koleva ◽

Asya P. Dragoeva ◽

Nikolay Natchev

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

Low Income ◽

Outdoor Recreation ◽

Social Impact ◽

Management Plan ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Face To Face ◽

The Social ◽

Low Income Groups

Little is known regarding the significance for local people of peri-urban national parks as recreational areas. The main goal of the present article is to evaluate the social impact and importance of peri-urban parks for visitors as a green space for outdoor recreation. For this investigation on-site, face-to-face interviews were conducted. The main reason for visiting NP are: “to be near to nature” (64.71%), “to practice sport” (58.09%) and “relaxing” (43.38%). Spending time in NP is considered by most interviewed people to be of crucial importance both for physical (96.32%) and for mental (83.82%) health. It should be noted that high frequency of park visits was reported only by young, employed and well-educated people. Data collected shows that park management plan should encourage low-income groups (unemployed and elderly) to use outdoor recreation as a part of preventive healthcare. The access for older adults, people with disabilities and children to the park should be facilitated. Services like access to clean water, toilets and seating places must be improved. The data from the authors' survey could be useful for the peri-urban national parks development as green spaces for promoting health among all demographic groups of local inhabitants.

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Use of Multiple Methods: An Examination of Constraints Effecting Ethnic Minority Visitor Use of National Parks and Management Implications

Ethnic Studies Review ◽

10.1525/esr.2008.31.2.35 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 35-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nina S. Roberts ◽

Donald A. Rodriguez

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Minority ◽

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Outdoor Recreation ◽

Minority Groups ◽

The Past ◽

Park Visitation ◽

Park Service ◽

Visitor Use ◽

Recreation Participation

Understanding outdoor recreation participation and national park visitation by members of ethnic minority groups has been a particular focus of outdoor recreation researchers for the past twenty years. Attracting ethnic minorities, and understanding their recreation needs and interests, demands a multi-faceted approach and sustained commitment not only by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) but by other resource management agencies as well.

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COVID-19 Changed Human-Nature Interactions across Green Space Types: Evidence of Change in Multiple Types of Activities from the West Bank, Palestine

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132413831 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (24) ◽

pp. 13831

Author(s):

Emad B. Dawwas ◽

Karen Dyson

Keyword(s):

Green Space ◽

West Bank ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Home Gardens ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Activity Participation ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Natural Areas ◽

The West ◽

Urban Green Spaces

COVID-19 stay-at-home orders impacted the way humans interacted with built and natural environments. Previous research on the human use of green spaces during the pandemic, largely conducted in a Western context, has found increased use of home gardens and urban green spaces, and decreased visitation to conservation areas. We explored changes in residents’ outdoor nature-associated activities during the pandemic in the West Bank, Palestine. We used a web-based survey to ask residents about their passive, interactive, and extractive outdoor activities that take place in home gardens, urban parks, and natural areas. Overall, our 1278 respondents spent less time with family and friends and more time alone. We found differences in respondent’s participation in activities both between green space types and between activity types. Participation in passive appreciation of nature activities increased for home gardens but decreased in urban parks and natural areas. Interactive activities, including cultivation, increased for all areas, while extractive activities stayed the same or decreased. Only in natural areas did respondents’ demographics explain changes in activity participation rates after the pandemic. Residents’ increased time alone raises concerns about mental health. The differences we observed in activity participation across green space types highlights the importance of looking across different types of natural spaces and different activities in the same setting, as well as examining non-Western settings.

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From Local Initiative to National State Process: The Case of Rondane National Park, Norway

Environmental History ◽

10.1093/envhis/emaa049 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 736-758

Author(s):

Hans Olav Bråtå

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Outdoor Recreation ◽

Local Initiative ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

Management Board ◽

The Core ◽

State Process ◽

Local Actors ◽

Wild Reindeer

Abstract Discussions about the purpose and management of Norway’s first national park evolved along different lines than planning did elsewhere in the world. First proposed in 1956 by local mountain boards wishing to protect wild reindeer, Rondane National Park opened in December 1962 with a significantly altered management emphasis. Prior to 1960, Norway had yet to adopt a national system for the conservation of large areas, and, therefore, local actors could set the terms of the debate. In 1960, however, the nation established a more comprehensive system for nature conservation, reshaping conservation in ways that prioritized the core actors over those on the periphery. The newly empowered administrator emphasized outdoor recreation, the preservation of pristine nature, and the protection of cultural traditions rather than wild reindeer. Rejecting a proposal for a management board for Rondane that would have included local representatives, Norwegian officials opted to emphasize national priorities and, in so doing, set a precedent for subsequently organized national parks.

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Using Mobile Device Data to Track the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spatiotemporal Patterns of National Park Visitation

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13169366 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 9366

Author(s):

John A. Kupfer ◽

Zhenlong Li ◽

Huan Ning ◽

Xiao Huang

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

Outdoor Recreation ◽

Explicit Knowledge ◽

Late Summer ◽

Spatiotemporal Patterns ◽

Mobility Data ◽

Park Visitation ◽

Park Service ◽

Parks Management

Effective quantification of visitation is important for understanding many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national parks and other protected areas. In this study, we mapped and analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of visitation for six national parks in the western U.S., taking advantage of large mobility records sampled from mobile devices and released by SafeGraph as part of their Social Distancing Metric dataset. Based on comparisons with visitation statistics released by the U.S. National Park Service, our results confirmed that mobility records from digital devices can effectively capture park visitation patterns but with much finer spatiotemporal granularity. In general, triggers of visitation changes corresponded well with the parks’ management responses to COVID-19, with all six parks showing dramatic decreases in the number of visitors (compared to 2019) beginning in March 2020 and continuing through April and May. As restrictions were eased to promote access to the parks and the benefits associated with outdoor recreation, visitation in 2020 approached or even passed that from 2019 by late summer or early autumn at most of the parks. The results also revealed that parks initially saw the greatest increases in visitation after reopening originating from nearby states, with visitorship coming from a broader range of states as time passed. Our study highlights the capability of mobility data for providing spatiotemporally explicit knowledge of place visitation.

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From Competition to Cooperation: A History of Canada–US National Park Relations

Environment and History ◽

10.3197/096734019x15631846928783 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Terence Young ◽

Alan MacEachern ◽

Lary Dilsaver

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

National Park ◽

The United States ◽

The Us ◽

Park Service ◽

Settler Societies ◽

History Of ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Flow Of Information ◽

The Relationship

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.

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Into Russian Nature

10.1093/oso/9780190914554.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alan D. Roe

Keyword(s):

World War Ii ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

National Parks ◽

International Organizations ◽

National Park ◽

World War ◽

Nature Protection ◽

Soviet Government ◽

History Of ◽

Development Goals

Into Russian Nature examines the history of the Russian national park movement. Russian biologists and geographers had been intrigued with the idea of establishing national parks before the Great October Revolution but pushed the Soviet government successfully to establish nature reserves (zapovedniki) during the USSR’s first decades. However, as the state pushed scientists to make zapovedniki more “useful” during the 1930s, some of the system’s staunchest defenders started supporting tourism in them. In the decades after World War II, the USSR experienced a tourism boom and faced a chronic shortage of tourism facilities. Also during these years, Soviet scientists took active part in Western-dominated international environmental protection organizations, where they became more familiar with national parks. In turn, they enthusiastically promoted parks for the USSR as a means to reconcile environmental protection and economic development goals, bring international respect to Soviet nature protection efforts, and help instill a love for the country’s nature and a desire to protect it in Russian/Soviet citizens. By the late 1980s, their supporters pushed transformative, and in some cases quixotic, park proposals. At the same time, national park opponents presented them as an unaffordable luxury during a time of economic struggle, especially after the USSR’s collapse. Despite unprecedented collaboration with international organizations, Russian national parks received little governmental support as they became mired in land-use conflicts with local populations. While the history of Russia’s national parks illustrates a bold attempt at reform, the state’s failure’s to support them has left Russian park supporters deeply disillusioned.

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Values of Travel Time for Recreational Trips under Different Behavioural Rules

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13126831 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 6831

Author(s):

Rosa Marina González ◽

Concepción Román ◽

Ángel Simón Marrero

Keyword(s):

Travel Time ◽

National Parks ◽

Traffic Congestion ◽

National Park ◽

Revealed Preference ◽

Discrete Choice Models ◽

Model Specification ◽

Regret Minimization ◽

Random Regret Minimization

In this study, discrete choice models that combine different behavioural rules are estimated to study the visitors’ preferences in relation to their travel mode choices to access a national park. Using a revealed preference survey conducted on visitors of Teide National Park (Tenerife, Spain), we present a hybrid model specification—with random parameters—in which we assume that some attributes are evaluated by the individuals under conventional random utility maximization (RUM) rules, whereas others are evaluated under random regret minimization (RRM) rules. We then compare the results obtained using exclusively a conventional RUM approach to those obtained using both RUM and RRM approaches, derive monetary valuations of the different components of travel time and calculate direct elasticity measures. Our results provide useful instruments to evaluate policies that promote the use of more sustainable modes of transport in natural sites. Such policies should be considered as priorities in many national parks, where negative transport externalities such as traffic congestion, pollution, noise and accidents are causing problems that jeopardize not only the sustainability of the sites, but also the quality of the visit.

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