ABSTRACT
Increases in population, in income per capita, in leisure opportunities, in health consciousness and improvement in transport infrastructure have, to a large extent, accounted for much of the growth of recreational activities. Recreational activity may be seen, for instance, as promoting creativity or individual freedom, or as encouraging democratic participation or inculcating a healthy outlook. Clearly the economic justification for introducing a park of any size whatever is that its total social benefits will exceed its total opportunity costs. As for the optimal size of the park under consideration, it is required, in addition, that the marginal social benefit be equal to marginal cost. If, for convenience, the readers assume continuity in construction of this individual marginal valuation curve, and also for marginal valuation curves of all prospective visitors. The intersection of this collective marginal valuation curve with that of long-run marginal cost of extending the size of the park determines the optimal size of the park to be built.
