The significance of outdoor recreationists' digital technology engagement in peri-urban settings : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

Abstract

Outdoor recreation is reported to facilitate a range of benefits including increased physical, social, mental and spiritual well-being by giving individuals an opportunity to disconnect from their day-to-day lives (Driver, 1998b; Manning, 2011). These benefits are realised through activities in specific settings within individual experiences (Driver & Brown, 1978; Manning, 2011; McCool, 2006). A digital technology revolution is reshaping outdoor recreation participation and experience, potentially undermining principal values of nature-based recreation engagements. While the impact of digital technology on the outdoor recreation experience has been researched in remote recreation settings (Amerson et al., 2020; Ewert & Shultis, 1999; Lindell, 2014; Martin, 2016; Pohl, 2006; Shultis, 2001, 2012, 2015), little is known about how outdoor recreationists use digital technology in peri-urban settings. Growing urbanisation has increased demand for, and value of access to outdoor spaces located on the urban fringe. These accessible outdoor recreation spaces, referred to as peri-urban, are the interaction zones where urban and rural activities are juxtaposed, and form an increasingly important component of urban recreational systems (Pigram & Jenkins, 2006). Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the significance of digital technology from outdoor recreation users’ perspectives in the context of a peri-urban setting. Quantitative survey data was collected on the use of digital technology by outdoor recreationists (N = 520), evaluating engagement with digital technology and the implications of this engagement. Additionally, qualitative interviews (N = 40) with recreationists, recreation managers, and members of outdoor recreation groups were completed focusing on the digital technology experience and perspectives on the role of digital technology in outdoor recreation. The research was undertaken in the peri-urban recreation area of the Port Hills (Te Poho-o-Tamatea) in Christchurch, New Zealand, known for its importance as a place of recreation and natural resources. This research found that the majority of recreationists carried at least one digital device, the most common of which was the smartphone. During the outdoor recreation experience, digital devices were primarily used for self-logging and quantification, to listen to music, and to communicate and stay connected for safety, for social reasons, or to access information. Findings led to the development of a typology of digital technology engagement in the peri-urban setting. The typology revealed that for a minority of recreationists digital technology was absent from the activity, and that for the majority of recreationists technology acted as a form of reassurance, support, or dependency in the experience. Through drawing on conceptual ideas included in the recreation demand hierarchy framework, and in the literature on technology usage in urban and in outdoor recreation settings, these findings expand our understandings of how and why recreationists engage with technology. Of particular importance is the interconnectivity of the variables such as activity, setting, and outdoor recreationists’ personal preferences and experiences. The varied experiences suggested tensions between our increasingly technologised existence (Lindell, 2014; Shultis, 2001, 2016) and traditional reasons for recreating outdoors, which played out through the range of responses in this study.