ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an historical overview of urban recreation, commentary on its present, changing status, and speculation for its future. Recreation activities operate within the social environment and form a part of the total social environment of the community and the nation. In many communities they are a conspicuous part of the pattern of social interaction. The recreation and park movement and the agencies that administer programs exist in a political and social environment that is increasingly complex. Failure of the recreation and park movement to deal with change continually will inevitably lead to crisis. The central concepts of the recreation and park movement are ideas whose time has come. The fundamental themes of the park movement are also a major national obsession. Recognition of recreation as an internalized emotional response is comparatively easy. The recreation program should help each individual extend his or her intellectual and emotional reach.
