METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE TERRITORIES’ CLASSIFICATION WITH PARAMETERS OF THE RECREATIONAL NATURE USE

Abstract

The article presents theoretical and methodological principles of researching the system of recreational nature resources use on different areas. Definition of the system, assessment of the resources, the territories’ recreational potential and their following differentiation are the paper’s tasks. Several academician and scientific methods have been applied: the structural analysis (composition of recreational resources), generalization (assessment of the industry’s status), mathematical (evaluation of the territories’ recreational potential), statistical analysis (classification of the territories by economic indicators), grouping the territories, and synthesis (elaboration of the multilevel algorithm of their differentiation). Recreational natural resources use is the part of the general system of the nature use. It is broader term than the recreational industry, since it includes protection and restoration of the resources. The multiplicative economic effect and joint use of recreational resources with other users are key features of the industry. Significant discrepancy between the scope of available recreational resources and intensity of their use are inherent for all Ukraine’s regions. The multilevel algorithm of the complex classification of the territories according to models of recreational nature use is to differentiate territories by type of settlements (urban, rural, intermediate), their proximity to urban centres (urbanized and peripheral), recreational potential (high, medium, low), and economic efficiency of industry (effective, moderately effective, inefficient). Accordingly three types of a territory’s development strategy have been identified: recreational specialization, major recreational industry, and internal recreations. The novelty of the research are the approach to determine essence, structure and functions of the system of recreational nature use, the set of criteria and indicators to evaluate recreational potential of the regions, and multilevel algorithm to classify territories and define models of their recreational use.