Urban water recreation: Experiences, place meanings, and future issues

Abstract

City sights ... city smells ... city sounds. In stark contrast to most urban images, water resources afford aesthetic relief among a variety of other individual and community benefits, including recreation. Water-based recreation experiences in urban environments contribute to citizen's quality of life through opportunities for enhanced health and wellness, environmental protection, and stimulated economic development. Beyond the benefits afforded through recreation experiences, however, are the meanings urban dwellers and visitors attach to these recreation resources. Both the recreation experiences and the meanings attached to these recreation environments have short- and long-term implications for water resource managers, policy makers, and urban planners. These urban water-based recreation experiences and resources, their place meanings, and future issues associated with them are the subject of this chapter. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.