CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.9 Studies on economic valuation 47
2.9.2. Studies in open space context 52
2.9.2.2. Studies used other methods 61
McPherson (1992) accounted the benefits and costs of urban green space. McPherson described a green space accounting approach to partially address this deficiency by using cost benefit analysis for a proposed tree-planting project in Tucson. The approach directly connected vegetation structure with the spatial-temporal flow of functional benefits and costs.
Prices were assigned to each cost (i.e. planting, pruning, removal, irrigation) and benefit (i.e.
cooling energy savings, interception of particulates, storm water runoff reduction) through direct estimation and implied valuation of benefits as environmental externalities. The results suggested that the approach can be used to evaluate net economic benefits associated with capital investments in urban forests vs. other investments in the urban infrastructure or traditional environmental control technologies.
In 1998, Tyrvainen with Vaananen conducted a contingent valuation study again in Joensuu in which green spaces represent 34% of the town area to measure the use-values of urban wooded recreation areas, and the residents’ willingness to pay for small forest parks contributing to the quality of housing environment, and to evaluate the suitability of the contingent valuation method in assessing urban forest amenities in Nordic conditions, where most green spaces are formed from preserved forest vegetation and the use of forests is based on free access to all forest areas. They found that most visitors were willing to pay for the use of wooded recreation areas. Furthermore, approximately half of the respondents were willing to pay to prevent the conversion of forested parks to another land-use. They indicated that the results can be used to assess the profitability of the management of urban forests. In addition, the results are useful in assessing value of green space benefits in different land use options.
With a consideration of the substantive debate over the public value of private landscapes, the debate over contingent valuation (CV), and the processes of greenway planning and implementation, Lindsey and Knaap (1999) searched for the willingness to pay for urban greenway projects. Their article reported the results of an experiment to estimate the value of
an urban greenway and to test the validity of contingent valuation (CV), and discussed the implications of the results for greenway planning. They experiment concerned people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for greenway projects in a publicly designated greenway in Indianapolis, Indiana, that is mostly in private ownership. The response rate for the mailed survey of Greenway property owners was 47%, somewhat low for mail surveys with high salience. As expected, response rates were lower for County residents and were very low for Greenway renters. They found that the proportion of respondents willing to pay was much higher in response to the survey than the actual solicitation. Most property owners in the corridor had located there because of its amenities, and had lived there during the greenways planning process, but still were unaware that the corridor had been designated a greenway and believed that designation will have positive or at least neutral effects.
Lindsey and Knaap reported their findings summarizing as follows. First, general awareness that the Crooked Creek corridor had been designated a greenway was low, but most respondents believed that such a designation will increase their quality of life and thus property values in the corridor. Second, support for greenway projects, measured as willingness to pay and as willingness to donate to the White River Greenways Foundation, was greater among property owners than renters and greater among those who lived in the corridor than among those who did not. Third, although most respondents valued the greenway designation and reported participation in outdoor recreation and other behavior consistent with environmental appreciation, most thought other public objectives were more important, and most considered a basic public health issue -reduction of sewage in the water- as the most important greenway improvement. Finally, for both property owners and renters in the Greenway, and for residents throughout the County, stated WTP was greater than stated willingness to contribute, which was greater than actual willingness to contribute.
To conclude, their findings suggested that there are indeed public benefits to private landscapes, but that in any particular place, their value depends on salience and proximity to individuals as well as other site-specific characteristics. They indicated that CV surveys can inform debates over the public value of private landscapes. In particular, planners can use the results of CV surveys to design and carry out more effective strategies for greenway and open space planning.
Bates and Santerre (2001) analyzed the public demand for open space in the case of Connecticut Communities. They stated that in USA at both the state and national levels, public policies are being designed to stimulate the demand for locally owned open space.
And, yet very little is known about the factors that influence the demand for open space and the sensitivity of demand to price and income. To fill the void, they used data for Connecticut cities and towns to estimate the public demand for open space. Their empirical study results suggested that the demand for open space is relatively insensitive to changes in price but highly responsive to changes in income. Their findings also showed that federal and state open space may tend to crowd out locally owned open space, which is highly congestible good. Finally, they indicated that privately owned open space is not a good substitute for locally owned public open space.
Kwak et al. (2003) estimated the value attached by the public to Kwanggyo Mountain in the Seoul Metropolitan Area of Korea using a contingent valuation survey, aimed at providing policy-makers with useful information to make an informed public decision in urban development planning. They carefully designed and implemented the survey to meet a number of recommendation rules suggested in the literature. The overall results showed that the respondents received the hypothetical scenario well and would be willing to pay a significant amount for the proposed program of conserving the mountain. The total value stated by the public amounted to approximately US$2.9 million per year. They indicated that this quantitative information can be used in policymaking process for urban development plans.
Fukahori and Kubota (2003) searched for the role of design elements on the cost- effectiveness of streetscape improvement discussing the effectiveness of contingent valuation methods in evaluating the visual quality of streets. Research on conventional contingent valuation methods concentrates on estimating the total value of landscape resources such as forests, wetlands, and parks. In contrast, they assess street design plans from both economic and psychological points of view and analyze by factor and relative importance of design elements such as vegetation, lighting columns, and pavements on the economic and perception-based values. They estimated the economic value of streetscape by the contingent valuation method in order to quantify landscape quality; clarified the meaning of economic valuation by respondents by analyzing the relationship between psychological rating scales and the economic scale; analyzed the contributions of design elements to economic valuation by respondents; and discussed streetscape quality from the point of view of cost efficiency based on several cost-related indices.
Fukahori and Kubota conducted the experiments by using computer-simulated photomontage images as virtual alternatives for two street design projects in Saitama City. Visual elements
of a streetscape usually include the road structure (road surface, vegetation, street hardware, and furniture), elements along the street (surrounding buildings, signboards, and so on), the background, human activities, and underground structures and utilities. Consequently, they organized elements as various types of design with a varying cost of materials for street furniture. Then, they asked the respondents participating in the experiment to evaluate the alternatives by a bidding game method, which is one of the elicitation methods used in contingent valuation. According to the results, Fukahori and Kubota pointed out that an acceptable cost had a strong correlation to the amenity score for each of the two street design projects.