Urban Population and Protected Areas as Recreational Destinations in the City of Zrenjanin
Abstract
In 2024, a survey was conducted among the residents of the city of Zrenjanin regarding protected areas in the city and the practice of nature-based recreation. The research aimed to see how much the city population is aware of the existence of protected areas in their immediate surroundings, how often they visit and use them for excursions and recreation, whether they do so in an organized manner or on their own, what types of activities they practice most, what the main complaints are, and what the suggestions for improvement are that would encourage them to visit these valuable natural objects more often. Two main hypotheses were tested on a sample of 320 respondents, and conclusions were drawn that may be useful to the managers of specific protected areas, the city administration, and all other stakeholders in the process of organizing and managing the leisure time of the residents of the city of Zrenjanin. The results obtained differ from the results of previous surveys on the same topic, which were conducted as part of the same larger survey in previous years in Pančevo and Vršac.
Keywords: protected areas, nature-based recreation, city population, Zrenjanin
© 2025 Serbian Geographical Society, Belgrade, Serbia.
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