Citizen and administrator perspectives of equity in the delivery of park services

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of what constitutes fairness and equity in the allocation of park resources. Four alternative equity models are presented. A general population sample and a sample of park and recreation directors were surveyed to gain empirical insights into which of these models the two groups perceived to be most appropriate for governing the allocation of park resources. Both samples overwhelmingly supported the view that parks should be allocated to all areas equally, rather than on the basis of need, demand, or amount of taxes paid. There was a lack of consensus on whether entrance fees should be set at a level that recovers operating costs. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Patterns of equity preferences among Californians for allocating park and recreation resources

“…To some extent this study replicated the study reported by Wicks and Crompton (1986). Their Texas study was also part of a statewide survey and it also used a probability sample.…”

“…The study reported here incorporates five of the equity guidelines (Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in Table 1) and four of the five socioeconomic variables they used (level of education, age, ethnicity, and income level). However, this study extends the Wicks and Crompton (1986) study in four ways. First, it uses an expanded taxonomy of eight rather than five equity guidelines.…”

“…Texas, by contrast, has not been subjected to such stringent financial legislation. Fourth, this study uses loglinear analysis to analyze the data, which is a more powerful approach yielding more information than the independent chi-squares used in the Wicks and Crompton (1986) study.…”

“…Second, it uses a consistent response format that better facilitates comparisons between the guidelines. The equity questions in the Wicks and Crompton (1986) study consisted of three trade-off questions and two agree-disagree statements. Hence, responses were dichotomous and response formats mixed, so comparison of the relative levels of support for the five equity guidelines was difficult.…”

Urban green space, uneven development and accessibility: a case of Dalian's Xigang District

“…Post 1970s, western countries put into effect a new public management reform policy emphasizing economics and the efficiency of supply (Wang, 2007). Five sub-concepts put forward by Lucy (1981) and three criteria proposed by Wicks and Crompton (1986) are representatives of the theories for the evaluation of fairness, but the essences are still the continuation of equality reform. The largest distribution efficiency of the urban green space was explored from the perspectives of geographic equity and space allotment fairness.…”