| dc.description.abstract | There is mountlng research on the general process of
urbanlsatlon ln the less developed countr1es (LOCS). However
11ttle attentlon has been paid to the role of recreat10n ln thelr
urban centres. Research on urban recreation has been conducted
,
almost entirely in the more developed countries (MOCS) urban
centres. Here recreation is recognised as an important element in
the lives of urban inhabitants hence 1ts inclusion as a major
land use.
On the contrary ,most of the LOCs often give recreation
low priority in the spatial planning of the urban areas. Nairobi
as the capital Clty of Kenya lacks adequate recreational
facillties compounded by the lack of exposure of the urban
residents to the different recreatlonal opportunities available.
One such form of recreation is the use of open spaces which are
available for recreation purposes. These open spaces are faclng
competition from the more economically challenging urban land
uses such as residential, industrial, commercial, transportation
among others.
This study examines the availability of these recreational
facilities, their role and the factors influenclng their
utilization. Factors such as their location and spatial
distributlon eyercise a signlficant influence in the use of these fac111tles. Agaln the propenslty to partlclpate ln outdoor
recreat10 lS also lnfluenced by the soclal characterlstlcs of
the populatlon such as age, sex, level of educatlon, marital
status. occupatlon, ,ncome, car ownershlp among others.
The fleldwork for this research was done durlng the months of
o ember and December 1988 and January of 1989. The
questlonnalre, key lnformants, available records and personal
field observations were the main dat~ gathering tools. Four parks
were selected for questionnalre administration to park visitors
at random sampl1ng. The data was assembled and analysed with the
use of a computer.Hypothesis were formulated concerning the
association between patterns of park visit (Y)and a number of
independent variables (X) which incllrledage, education, mobility,
income and other variables.The statistical tests used to determine the degree and
dlrection of the relationships among the variables were the
partial correlations, regression analysis using multiple and
llnear regressions and cross- tabulations. Use was made of the 't'
and 'F' tests to test the signiflcance of the results.s. In
the characteristics of the particlpants showed
the
that findings,
people from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds
had different propensities to participate in outdoor recreation
activities. The parks had different attraction rates with some
having more visitors than others for different reasons.
Passive recreation dominated in the parks whlle the major mode of travel
to the parks was by foot.Par~ Y1S1t 1S also lnfluenced by factors such as the a ailable
le1sure tlme, weather cond1t10ns, tlme/dlstances lnvol ed, the
problems of accesslbll,ty and exceSS1ve demand. The demand for
outdoor recreatlon facllltles ln the Clty of Nairobi (CON) cannot
be overestlmated especially as of now where these facllitles are
underprovided and there ;s a backlog of latent demand wa1tlng
to be satisfied. Participation in outdoor recreatlon is expected
to rlse as the impact of urbanizatlon lncreases,which will
lnfluence changes in peoples attitudes and lnterest,and brings
about higher education and lncome, increased car ownership which
may affect future recreational preferences considerably.
In Vlew of such conclusions, it is recommended that the
present recreational facilities should be expanded and their
quality improved. Cost sharing should be introduced to improve
the management and maintenance of these parks, through
introduction of chargeable activities in the parks.Spatial imbalances of the distributlon of the parks should be
adjusted by locating the new parks in areas where there are more
concentratlons of population such as the low income residential
areas. It 1S lmportant to maximise the utilisation of the
existing recreational facilities wlthin the study area and at the
same time create new parks for example, along the Nalrobi River,
on the waterfronts such as the Nairobi dam and also explolt the
forests (Karura and Ngong) for thelr potential as recreational
resources.
Recreational spaces need to be well planned ahead of the
e·pa s en c~ the Clty of alrobl and lt 1S reeom ended that
appropriate polley gUldellnes and researc wor~ be underta~en to
necessltate pro lSlon of adequate and well managed recreat onal
areas. This will go a long way in not only providlng
essentlal serVlce to the urban populatlon but also
good urban enVlronment and retalnlng the status of
thlS most
ensurlng a
the 'Green
Clty' ln the sun. To aclrieve th;s,reqUlreS a more pragmatlc
approach amongst the planners, the POllCY makers, the polltlclans
and the publlC of City of Nairobl.
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