Park And Visitor Happiness: An Exploratory Research On Recreation Areas in Neighborhood Parks

The studies showed that recreation activities carried out in parks makes visitors happy. This evidence shows that local governments wishing to create a happy community should consider the design of the park to meet the expectations of visitors. Therefore, this study aims to explore the desired recreation areas in large-scale neighborhood parks according to visitor views. The research process was designed according to the mixed research method. In the first stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 visitors selected with purposive sampling method, and in the second stage, data were obtained from 215 people selected by convenience sampling method. Interview data were interpreted with content analysis and quantitative data were interpreted with percentage and frequency distribution. According to the results of the data analysis, seven recreation areas and the units within these areas, which were desired by the visitors in large-scale neighborhood parks, were discovered. As a result, different recreation areas indicate that parks should be functional habitats. The research also provides guidance to local governments and city planners who want to create a happy community with functional parks