Cultural differences in urban recreation patterns: An examination of park usage and activity participation across six population subgroups

Abstract

Current demographic trends indicate population growth for racial and ethnic minority groups in the US is increasing considerably faster than the rate for the nation's population as a whole. Nation-wide, racial and ethnic minority groups constitute important and growing user segments of urban parks and forests. Development and delivery of effective urban outdoor recreation and leisure services require focused efforts by urban park and forest managers to assess and address the recreational needs and interests of racial and ethnic minority groups. Existing studies have not been highly effective in providing an in-depth examination of recreation patterns of specific urban ethnic minority groups in the US. In order to further our understanding of ethnic urban recreation, this US-based study investigated differences in outdoor recreation characteristics (type of urban park usage and types of activities) across six urban population subgroups, i.e., Hispanic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, African American, and White. The results of the study highlighted several similarities and differences in outdoor recreation characteristics among the six population subgroups. Findings also demonstrated the presence of certain acculturation-based variations in type of urban park usage and activity participation within the Hispanic and Asian subgroups.