ABSTRACT
If people spend as much time at leisure as they do at work, then the study of the distribution of recreational behaviour as an economic activity is as important to the geographer as the study of coalmining. The latter has been adequately covered by the discipline, but the former has been largely neglected, and particularly so with reference to provision in urban areas. The reasons behind this neglect must to a certain extent be linked with the fundamental and recurrent problem of definition. When is one at leisure? It is doubtful whether it will ever be possible or perhaps necessary to draw a line between work and leisure which would be generally acceptable for even a short period of time. So many activities are part of both work and leisure; reading, writing, dining and driving a car would all be extremely difficult to categorise.
