Public parks: A service perspective from the northwest of England

Abstract

This paper uses a case study approach to illustrate how government policies for restoration and income generation affect service delivery in three urban parks. The cases are based upon the service offerings in Happy Mount Park in Morecambe, Williamson Park in Lancaster and Stanley Park in Liverpool, located in the Northwest of England. The discussion utilizes service delivery and customer focus literature but will extend into the dimensions of public goods, commodification and gradual privatisation of public parks. The paper contains a discourse on the management and the demise of urban parks over the last 30 years. The notion of service quality and a customer focus normally relates to fee paying attractions but the authors' conclusions are contextualized within the service offerings of public parks with an operational environment of ‘free admission at the point of use’.