Reviewing the production and development of ‘place’ knowledge in a recreational context

Abstract

The aim of this article is to review the production, development and trends of place knowledge in the field of recreation from a bibliometric perspective. Data was obtained through a search of the terms ‘recreation’, ‘place’, and ‘space’ on the Web of Science database and by filtering research articles. Relational bibliometric techniques were used to analyze 148 articles. The development of spatial knowledge in the field of recreation was determined through centrality analysis and network mapping techniques. In addition, during the research, the most important articles, researchers, institutions and collaborations in the field were defined. According to the research findings, 302 researchers conducted research on recreation and place, either in co-operation with each other or individually, in 43 journals. Place attachment, sense of place and place meaning have been determined as the dominant and main subject areas in the field of recreation.