THE ROLE PLAYED BY AGRO-RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE FORMATION OF AN INTEGRAL RURAL URBAN-ENVIRONMENT

Using the city region of Leningrad as the basis for research, an analysis of those processes leading to the integration of city and countryside is undertaken. The focus of the investigation is on what are termed 'agro-recreational activities', which embrace the collective gardening and associated recreational activities of city dwellers which take place in rural areas close to the city. Such activities have a growing recreational significance for the inhabitants of big cities and make an important contribution to the local production of fruit and vegetables. Questionnaire surveys of urban residents and collective gardeners reveal the present-day leisure patterns of gardeners and the unmet demand for various kinds of agro-recreational activity. Transportational and other types of infrastructural improvement may ultimately lead to the formation of agro-recreational complexes and systems which will balance productive and recreational activities at various scales and levels, and further enhance rural-urban integration.