The romantic walker? A case study of users of iconic Scottish landscape

Abstract

In this paper it is argued that the use‐value of symbolic landscape should be defined on the bases of the experiences of its users, in this case walkers. The paper seeks to test the utility of an ‘iconic landscape’ conceptualisation of the users of such a landscape. It focuses on what the ‘consumers’ of one symbolic landscape, Ben Lomond, actually experience. Recreational usage is found to emphasise attributes of physical achievement, supplemented by elements of romanticism, rather than symbolic consumption.

Keywords:

• Consumption
• Experience
• Recreational geography
• Romanticism
• Rurality
• Scotland
• Spirit of place