This book analyses the concept of community by critically exploring its many manifestations in leisure. It unpacks patterns of mutuality, collective expression and belonging as they emerge through interaction, shared narrative, and practice. Recognising that our experiences of "being in common" and "being in leisure" require rethinking in a changed modernity, the book illustrates the myriad ways that leisure communities take form and shape in the current economic, political, and ideological moment. It highlights how changing societal expectations, economic conditions, technological innovations, and ideological shifts set the stage for a reformulation of social relations and emergence of new leisure-based social groupings. The authors question how to make sense of new social expressions, at times offering unexpected and completely new ways of theorizing community. Global in richness and scope, the book offers a rich and composite view regarding how to take up and theorize leisure in relation to the multiple dimensions of community. It will inspire a new generation of readers in a broad range of areas across the social sciences, including sociology, community studies, leisure studies, and planning.

Second homes (variously summer houses, shacks, baches, cottages, dacha) are a popular cultural phenomenon in many countries and an emerging trend in others. They are inextricably linked to tourism, recreation and leisure, and yet the fundamental relationship between second homes and leisure often appears to have been overlooked by researchers in the area. This book seeks to address this absence, bringing together an exciting collection of research from around the world. Drawing on examples from Canada, Japan, Morocco, Costa Rica, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, this book highlights the interdisciplinary nature of second home research in the leisure field. The book describes the nexus of second homes and leisure from a variety of perspectives: planning and policy, historical, social and cultural. It is an essential work for those interested in new cultural viewpoints on second homes and leisure practices. This book was originally published as a special issue of Annals of Leisure Research.

This book analyses the concept of community by critically exploring its many manifestations in leisure. It unpacks patterns of mutuality, collective expression, and belonging as they emerge through interaction, shared narrative, and practice. Recognizing that our experiences of “being in common” and “being in leisure” require rethinking in a changed modernity, the book illustrates the myriad ways that leisure communities take form and shape in the current economic, political, and ideological moment. It highlights how changing societal expectations, economic conditions, technological innovations, and ideological shifts set the stage for a reformulation of social relations and emergence of new leisure-based social groupings. The authors question how to make sense of new social expressions, at times offering unexpected and completely new ways of theorizing community. Global in richness and scope, the book offers a rich and composite view regarding how to take up and theorize leisure in relation to the multiple dimensions of community. It will inspire a new generation of readers in a broad range of areas across the social sciences, including sociology, community studies, leisure studies, and planning.

This insightful book focuses on state-of-the-art retirement communities in the United States today. Experts from the fields of urban planning, architecture, and aging present in-depth profiles of a variety of retirement communities. The changing function and character of retirement communities--resulting from changes in supply and demand, alternate lifestyles, and other environmental needs of an ever-increasing aging population--are explored. The timely discussions in this useful resource offer insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of various types of retirement communities with respect to the varying needs, abilities, and desires of older people.

Community Leisure and Recreation Planning offers an up-to-date, evidence-based approach to planning community leisure and recreation facilities, programs and services. It introduces readers to key theory and best practice in the planning of effective leisure and recreation projects. The book defines planning, leisure, recreation and other key concepts and explains why a thorough planning process is essential to achieving effective outcomes. It presents a comprehensive, integrative four phase model for undertaking leisure and recreation planning, including: pre-planning, planning research, preparing a plan, and implementing, monitoring and evaluating the outputs and outcomes of a plan. It provides a conceptual rationale for each component of the planning process, a detailed explanation of the tools and techniques that can be used, and extensive examples and international case study materials to demonstrate their use. The principles and techniques explained in the book are applicable at a range of community levels from small individual sites to regions, states and even countries. This is an essential course text for all leisure and recreation courses, and invaluable reading for academics, practitioners, stakeholders and students working in leisure and recreation planning, events, culture and sport.