EVALUATION OF OPEN SPACE POLICIES FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION, WITH REFERENCE TO SOUTH EAST LONDON Vernon Peter GfREEN B.Sc(Econ), M«Sc. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (C.N.AoA.). Thames Polytechnic, September 1980 ( «ox 7- EVALUATION OF OPEN SPACE POLICIES FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION, WITH TO SOUTH EAST LONDON. Vernon Peter Green ABSTRACT A number of policies for the provision of open space for informal recreation and sport have been developed by the Greater London Council, and other agencies including the Regional Council for Sport and Recreation and the Docklands Development Organisation. The study evaluates the extent to which these policies have been correctly formulated and are realistic, in the light of surveys of the supply of open space and the recreational use made of it by residents in south east London. The degree of success with which these policies have been adopted and implemented by executive authorities, given their existing legislative and financial powers, is also examined. In this way deficiencies in policies are identified and a number of opportunities and alternatives are suggested. The evaluation of both the formulation and implementation of open space policies for Greater London has not hitherto been carried out. Individual Borough Councils have produced topic reports or policy statements adapting strategic policies to local needs, but these do not look at their broader implications for the metropolitan area. Also the strategic open space policies contained in the Greater London Development Plan, the structure plan for London approved in 1976, have not been reviewed subsequently. Finally, although some research has been carried out in Britain and the United States on the general application of open space standards, there has been no detailed work specific to London, EVALUATION OF OPEN SPACE POLICIES FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION, WITH REFEEENCE TO SOUTH EAST LONDON Page No. CONTENTS VOLUME I LIST OF TABLES v. LIST OF MAPS & DIAGRAMS vi. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix. INTRODUCTION _ aims and content x. - scope of study - methodology PART 1. BACKGROUND CHAPTER 1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATUTORY AND PLANNING FRAMWORK FOR THE PROVISION OF OPEN SPACE FOR RECREATION IN GREATER LONDON. 1. 1.1 The legislative and institutional framework for open space provision. 2. 1.2 Plans, policies and standards. 19. APPENDICES I (a) Plans, policies and standards 47. (b) The theoretical basis of the Greater London Development Plan's hierarchy of open space. 49. (c) Methodological problems associated with the "Acres per Thousand Population" open space standard. 55. (d) Method of assessing requirements for playing fields, 61. CHAPTER THE PROVISION OF OPEN SPACE IN SOUTH EAST LONDON 63. 2.1 Physical basis of south east London 64. 2.2 Urban development 67. 2.3 Provision of open space 87. 2.4 Policy implications 119. APPENDICES II (a) Open space for recreation - Tables 1 - 12 and sources. 122. (b) Inventory of public open space in south east London. 130. (c) Use of location quotient as an index of concentration in describing pitch distribution. 134. (d) Sequence of photographs of parks referred facing to in Chapter 2. P-135 i. Page No* CHAPTER RECREATIONAL DEMAND FOR OPEN SPACE IN SOUTH EAST LONDON. 136. 3*1 Nature of recreational demand 136* 3*2 Review of empirical demand studies 142* 3*3 The use of open space in south east London* 152* 3*4, Demographic and social characteristics of the population and the use of open space l6?« 3.5 Policy implications* 178. APPENDICES III (a) Details of household interview survey on recreational use of open space 183* (b) Use of open space - Tables 1 - 11* 192* (c) The use of indicators from 1971 Population Census to show the spatial distribution of demographic and social characteristics associated with recreational participation in south east London 198* VOLUME II PART II EVALUATION OF POLICY FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION CHAPTER 4. PUBLIC OPEN SPACE POLICY AND THE EXISTING, PROVISION IN SOUTH EAST LONDON. 202. 4.1 Size of open space 203. 4.2 Distribution of open space 205. 4.3 Characteristics of open space 208. 4.4 Greater London Development Plan hierarchy and the parks of south east London 221. APPENDICES IV (a) The use of First Nearest Neighbour Analysis in testing for regularity in the distribution of parks of different size categories 223. The use of Single-Link Cluster Analysis in classifying public open space by facility 233* CHAPTER 5. PUBLIC OPEN SPACE POLICY AND THE USE OF OPEN SPACE FOR INFORMAL RECREATION IN SOUTH EAST LONDON. 238. 5.1 Size of park and distance travelled 239. 5.2 Size of park and other visiting characteristics. 242. 5.3 A hierarchy of use 249. ii* Page No. APPENDICES V (a) Details of User Surrey of Open space in south east London* 254. (b) Tables 1 -2 Size of open space by distance travelled 262. (c) Use of contingency tables and chi-square analysis in testing for relationships between park visiting characteristics,Tables 1-22 268. CHAPTER 6. THE USE OF PUBLIC OPEN SPACE BY SCHOOLCHILDREN 282, 6.1. Inter-relationships between park visiting characteristics. 283. 6.2 Effects of location on park visiting characteristics 289. 6.3 Implications for the hierarchy of open space provision. 296. APPENDICES VI (a) Details of survey of schoolchildren's use of open space. 298* (b) Tables 1-2. Size of park by distance travelled. 309. (c) Contingency tables 1-15 showing relationships between park visiting characteristics 313* (d) Tables 1-13* Effect of location on use of open space. 321. CHAPTER 7. THE USE OF OPEN SPACE FOR SPORT 325. 7.1 Football 327. 7.2 Other pitch sports 337. 7*3 Policy implications for the provision and management of open space for sport. 338. APPENDICES VII (a) Playing Fields Research Study ; Background to survey of pitch sports requirements undertaken by the Greater London and South East Sports Council 1971-1974 341. (b) Tables 1-7. Use of pitches for football 348. (c) Use of Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient (rs ) in testing relationships between the use characteristics of football teams in south east London. 354. CHAPTER 8. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC OPEN SPACE POLICIES IN SOUTH EAST LONDON. 358. 8.1 Greater London Council 360. 8.2 Greater London and South East Council for Sport and Recreation 370. 8.3 The Docklands Joint Committee 375. 8.4 The Green Chain Working Party. 382. 8.5 Evaluation. 385. iii. CHAPTER___________<h THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL OPEN SPACE POLICIES IN SOUTII EAST LONDON. 387. 9.1 Powers and finance* 387 9*2 Open space for informal recreation .and other open land 389* 9*3 Open space for sport 401. 9.4 Evaluation. 406. CHAPTER__________10. OPEN SPACE POLICIES - PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES 410. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 427. iv. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.2(b) Open Space Standards (after Pepler) 22 1.2(d) Types and Accessibility of Public Open Space 33 2.3(c) Correlation between Selected Census indices 114 3.2(b) Average no, of visits to Public Open Space per person throughout Greater London, Summer 1965. 14? 3.4(a)(i) Correlation between selected demographic variables 174 3.4(a) (ii) Correlation between selected socio-economic variables 175 4.3 Greater London Development Plan hierarchy : Characteristics of Parks 210 5 Expected use of parks in G.L.D.P. hierarchy 238 5.1 Interpretation of standard deviations of distances travelled to parks of different sizes 241 5.2 Park Visiting Characteristics 242 5.2(a) Matrix of associations between park visiting characteristics 243 5.2(b) Matrix of associations between size of park and visiting characteristics 246 6.l(a) (i) Interpretation of standard deviations of distances travelled to parks of different sizes 285 6,l(a) (ii) Average distance travelled to parks and standard deviation (adults and children) 286 6.l(a) (iii) No. of facilities contained in parks visited by size. 28? 6.l(b) Matrix of associations between park visiting characteristics of schoolchildren 288 6,2 Size of park visited by location 292 8.l(c) Phasing of development of Burgess Park 368 8.3(b) (i) Existing and proposed public open space; Surrey Docks, Lewisham, W. Greenwich 378 8,3(b) (ii) Surrey Docks. Lewisham, W. Greenwich: Approved Programme 1979 - 83 381 9.2(b) Open Space proposals : Deptford -394 V. LIST OF MAPS AND DIAGRAMS e. 1.2(d) (i) Theory of accessibility to public open space 34. 1.2(d) (ii) Interim standards for the overall provision of public open space in each London Borough 37. 1.2(d)(iii) Greater London Development Plan : Open Land Policies 40. 2,l(b) South East London : Simplified drift geology 65. 2.2{a)(i) Public Open Space 68. 2.2(a)(ii) Growth of South East London (1700 - Present day) 70. 2.2(a) (iii) View of the Seat of the late Sir Gregory Page at Blackheath. 71. 2.2(a) (iv) Blackheath - the Horsemanship 73. 2.3(a) Open Space for Recreation - typology 93. 2.3(b) (i) Distribution of Open Land 95. 2.3(b) (ii) Size and location of public open spaces in south east London, 98. 2.3(b) (iii) Size of Open Space by number of facilities 100, 2,3(b) (iv) No, of facilities in public open spaces by location 101. 2.3(b) (v) Proportion of open spaces containing sports facilities and playgrounds by size. 103. 2.3(b) (vi) Proportion of open spaces containing sports facilities and playgrounds by distance from Central London, 104, 2.3(b) (vii) Location of pitches for team sports 108. 2.3(b) (viii) Type of pitch by distance from Central London.