The divergence and coalescence of public outdoor recreation values in New Zealand and England: an interplay between rights and markets

Abstract

Mid 19th Century English settlers in New Zealand developed a clear set of values for outdoor recreation. A small gregarious farming population used recreation for team sports and the nurturing of a ‘moral and physical health’. Work on the farm was a solitary activity. Recreation should therefore be a social one, taking place on land the rights to which were to be available to all. Developments in England from this time, by contrast, provided recreation values dominated by notions of quiet rural refreshment in manicured landscapes. These values were inextricably linked with national identity for a country with an Empire: the English landscape was the image of a spiritual home and rights over the use of this landscape became increasingly restricted over time. Contemporary national policy in both countries reinforced these distinct value systems. From the late 1970s, however, increasing globalisation has led to a coalescence of value systems for outdoor recreation. Traditional forms of outdoor activities, and the rights to pursue them, have given way to more common leisure lifestyles in both countries. These are now much more based around the home and on health and fitness, and are driven by access through the market rather than through public access rights. Public policy for outdoor recreation in both countries also has embraced this market orientation, pulling back from the centrality of the public provision of access rights.

Acknowledgements

This paper was written as a result of a Leverhulme Trust Study Abroad Fellowship when the author was based in the Human Sciences Division of Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand. Grateful thanks are expressed to the Trust for this funding, and to the Division for its hospitality. Thanks also go to Kay Booth of Lincoln University for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Errors and omissions remain those of the author.

Notes

Correspondence Address: Nigel Curry, Countryside and Community Research Unit, University of Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL4 8HR, UK. Email: [email protected]; tel: [phone]

Recreation surveys in both countries do distinguish between active and passive recreation. At the margin, a walk of 2 miles of more is considered as active recreation, and casual walking close to home is considered passive. Further from that divide, outdoor sports such as climbing, kayaking, windsurfing and hang gliding are considered active. Drives, outings, picnics, and bird watching are considered passive.

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Notes on contributors

NIGEL CURRY

Correspondence Address: Nigel Curry, Countryside and Community Research Unit, University of Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL4 8HR, UK. Email: [email protected]; tel: [phone]