The Expediency of Reconstruction and Prospects for the Development of “Abandoned” Children's Health Camps

Throughout the history of the children's recreation system, country camps have been the main tool for implementing the idea of the positive influence of nature on the versatile development of children. With the abolition of the USSR in 1991, the financing of such institutions decreased, which led to the degradation of the technical condition of the facilities and, as a result, their mass closure. To date, the State's policy of increasing the birth rate has not been provided with the necessary number of suburban children's recreation facilities. The purpose of this study is to consider the feasibility of reconstruction and prospects for the development of “abandoned” children's health camps to reduce the shortage in children's country recreation institutions. The article provides a statistical analysis of the provision of the population with children's country camps, highlights the problem of deterioration in the technical condition of operating institutions and suggests ways to solve it, including the economic feasibility of reconstruction. As evidence, the author noted the positive experience of carrying out restoration work on the example of the Artek camp. Based on the results of the work, the social, urban planning, historical and tourist benefits of the reconstruction of country camps were determined. The materials of the work can be useful for private investors, institutions focused on the development and maintenance of the social sphere at the local and regional levels, determining the ways of investment development in the field of children's recreation.