Urban water bodies and recreational opportunities in Finland

Abstract

Urban water bodies provide recreational opportunities to residents such as swimming, boating, fishing and spending leisure time. The recreational opportunities offered by water bodies contributes to both physical and mental health. In Finland, there are almost unlimited possibilities to enjoy water bodies in urban areas by having 3.4 million hectares of inland water resources, e.g., lakes, ponds, and coastal wetland and 5.2 million hectares of marine waters. In this paper, we highlight the recreational values offered by these water areas in the urban context. We use water-based outdoor recreation statistics collected from the three provinces in Finland called Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa, and Pohjanmaa. As a result, we show that the demographic structure, access to the water areas are linked to the type of recreation activities such as swimming, fishing and boating. Thus, resulting in the well-being of people living in cities.