Assessing adequacy of leisure and recreation facilities in KFUPM campus: A futuristic need-gap perspective

Leisure and recreation facilities are strongly intertwined due to their mutual dependencies. Thus, they build up invisible networks. Leisure and recreation facilities are one of the imperative components for socio-cultural, psychological, and economic development. In the spectrum of sustainable development, it is not possible to initiate development process without strategically planning for leisure and recreation activities. KFUPM was developed with specific leisure and recreation facilities for its community members. This paper examines their adequacy and possible set of actions to minimize the inadequacies in relation to growing and changing needs of the diversified-culture based community. Preparation of a proposed alterative (strategic) action plan to improve leisure and recreation facilities is based on conducting an internal assessment of current and forecasting amenities, and the need-gap analysis. The proposed action plan covers the estimated cost and urgency level for each of the alternative leisure and recreation improvement options. KFUPM must be committed to embracing the vision and strategies presented by this study, and allocate resources to implement strategic plans for improving leisure and recreation facilities that foster productivity and help shape systems for human resource development.