Citation

Byrne J, Wolch J. Prog. Hum. Geogr. 2009; 33(6): 743-765.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0309132509103156

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Geographic research on parks has been wide-ranging but has seldom examined how and why people use parks, leaving these questions to leisure science, which privileges socio-demographic variables over urban socio-spatial explanations (eg, historical, political-economic, and location factors). This article examines recent geographic perspectives on park use, drawing upon environmental justice, cultural landscape, and political ecology paradigms to redirect our attention from park users to a more critical appreciation of the historical, socio-ecological, and political-economic processes that operate through, and in turn shape, park spaces and park-going behaviors. We challenge partial, user-orientated approaches and suggest new directions for geographic research on parks.