Recreational areas and areas for recreational walking, 1 January 2013

More exactly; 55 per cent of residents in urban settlements have access to recreational areas, while 49 per cent have access to areas for recreational walking. A higher proportion of residents in small urban settlements have safe access compared to larger urban settlements (figure 1). Overall, 67 per cent of residents in the smallest urban settlements have safe access to recreational areas, while the corresponding figure for the biggest cities is 52 per cent. There is a greater disparity between big and small cities in relation to safe access to areas for recreational walking (76 per cent for small urban settlements vs. 36 per cent for the biggest cities).

The proportion of residents with safe access may also be low in small urban settlements, despite a clear correlation between urban settlement size and safe access in general (figure 2). This is especially the case in areas with widespread agricultural land.

More children have access

More children and young people have access to recreational areas and areas for recreational walking than the population at large (3 percentage points). This is because children tend to live closer to recreational areas serviced by footpaths and cycle paths and other low traffic roads.

More kindergartens than schools have safe access

A higher share of kindergartens has safe access than schools. Blocks of flats have significantly less access than other building categories. This can be attributed to these buildings being predominantly located in central, more dense and busy parts of cities.

70 square metres per resident

The total recreational area within urban settlements is around 290 km². Residents in urban settlements each have on average 70 m² of recreational area. Residents in the biggest urban settlements have on average the smallest recreational area at their disposal.