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The Influence of Subjective Perceptions on the Valuation of Green Spaces in Japanese Urban Areas
Abstract
This study focuses on the importance of subjective perceptions in the valuation and conservation of urban green spaces. Because physical attributes of the natural environment are filtered through individuals’ perceptions, their self-reporting of the extent of green spaces fluctuates according to their biases. However, the determinant of people's self-reporting of the extent of green spaces within neighborhoods remains unclear. An examination of the relationship between the physical attributes of green spaces and the self-reported extent of green spaces is required to address this uncertainty. Accordingly, two separate studies were conducted by establishing two types of data on green spaces: physical data derived from a Geographical Information System and questionnaire-derived self-reported data. Multiple regression analysis was performed to compare the effects of different types of physical green spaces on the self-reported extent of green spaces. The results indicated that residents’ perceptions of same-sized green spaces differed considerably depending on their type. To ascertain the effects of subjective perceptions on economic valuation, a life satisfaction approach was subsequently applied within two separate analyses. In the first analysis, reflecting a normal pattern, the relationship between life satisfaction and the area of green space was examined, and in the second analysis, the self-reported extent of green spaces was used as an intermediate variable between green spaces and life satisfaction. A comparison of the estimated values from the two analyses revealed significant differences, depending on whether self-reported green spaces were used as an intermediate variable. Specifically, values of urban green spaces fluctuated more than those of forests in the case of self-reported green spaces. Although urban planners and experts generally emphasize the physical attributes of green spaces, such as area, these results indicate that it is critical to consider people's perceptions.
... Additionally, residents who live in areas with more green spaces consistently reported greater levels of subjective life satisfaction than those who live in areas with fewer green spaces [8,23]. The positive impact of high biodiversity on the well-being of greenspace visitors highlights the importance of comprehending the determinants of self-reported greenspaces for informed decision-making in green policy initiatives; additionally, it is important to acknowledge the ongoing debate surrounding the disparity between physically measured and selfreported data in environmental assessment [24,25]. ...
... Carrying out an economic valuation of urban GOS through LSA is essential for understanding the monetary value of GOS and its impact on urban sustainability. Aoshima et al. [25] explored the significance of subjective perceptions in the assessment and preservation of urban green spaces. While planners commonly emphasize the importance of the physical attributes of GOS, this study explores the role of public perceptions in GOS allotment [25]. ...
... Aoshima et al. [25] explored the significance of subjective perceptions in the assessment and preservation of urban green spaces. While planners commonly emphasize the importance of the physical attributes of GOS, this study explores the role of public perceptions in GOS allotment [25]. The intersection of urban green spaces and human well-being is a captivating subject, with numerous studies highlighting the multifaceted benefits of such spaces for urban residents. ...
This study conducts the valuation of the urban Green Open Spaces (GOS) in Jakarta (Indonesia) using the life satisfaction approach (LSA). We integrated the important elements of the LSA, such as housing structure and environmental facilities, into a comprehensive valuation model (using hedonic variables). By explicitly acknowledging the limited application of these methodologies in developing nations, this study endeavors to provide a context-specific understanding of the economic value of GOS in Jakarta. The LSA model, a novel non-market valuation tool, employs community life satisfaction as its primary metric. In this study, we analyzed the satisfaction levels of residents of Jakarta based on a 10-point scale; the responses of a total of 1,592 participants were collected through online questionnaires in 2021 (during the pandemic). We considered various independent variables, including socioeconomic factors, housing attributes, environmental facilities, location amenities, and the presence of GOS. The analysis involved LSA and ordinary least squares (OLS) models in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicate that several variables, such as longer residence duration, good employment status, high income "over 20 million Indonesian Rupiah (IDR); approximately USD 1281.56", and access to more shopping centers, positively influenced the life satisfaction of the residents, which is in line with the studies conducted in western countries. Surprisingly, the economic evaluation of urban GOS portrayed a limited impact on the residents' life satisfaction, while negative aspects, e.g., the presence of cemeteries around residential areas (19.1%), impacted the residents significantly. Urban parks did not portray statistical significance in influencing the residents' life satisfaction, despite having a positive impact across all radii of urban regions. Urban forests exhibited a positive impact, mainly within the 100-500-m radius, with a significant impact on resident life satisfaction. Our attempt to assess the values of landscape amenities in Jakarta using LSA marks a pioneering effort in the field of environmental science with respect to community preferences. Consequently, this study contributes significantly to the evolving yet limited literature in this domain. The results differ from those of the Global North research, emphasizing the need for context-specific urban planning strategies. Our study offers valuable insights for urban planners and government entities and can guide GOS development to enhance urban sustainability and community satisfaction. The implications extend to urban centers in Indonesia and other developing countries, emphasizing the importance of optimizing limited urban spaces based on community preferences.
... Economists, on the other hand, have been more tentative and many papers have used ordinal models such as ordered probits (e.g. Blanchflower and Oswald, 2000;Clark and Oswald, 1994;van Praag et al., 2000;Mcbride, 2001;Tsurumi and Managi, 2016;Aoshima et al., 2018;Mendoza et al., 2019). This issue is not so important for wellbeing valuation for two reasons. ...
... If the two variables are correlated then including both of them in a single model is likely to run into the indirect effects problem for one of the variables. good (Danzer and Danzer, 2011;Aoshima et al., 2018) and some for both income and the non-market good in 2SLS (e.g. Luechinger, 2009;Tsurumi and Managi, 2015). ...
Attaching monetary values to non-market outcomes, goods and services has become a critical part of policy evaluation across OECD countries. The HM Treasury Green Book, the core policy evaluation guidance in the UK, requires that projects and policies be assessed using Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), which compares the benefits and costs of a policy in monetary terms and hence requires valuation of the outcomes of a policy. Outside of public policy, the private sector is also increasingly interested in valuing the outcomes of their activities to measure the social value that they generate. However, valuing non-market goods such as education, health, crime, environment, and heritage is difficult because they are not traded in markets. Wellbeing Valuation (WV) is a relatively new method, first developed in 2002. There are a number of technical problems with the method related to the statistical estimation methodology and a number of issues that have not been explored in full such as how to interpret the values. This has restricted the method’s use in policy evaluation to date. The aim of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the WV approach and to improve the methodology so that it can be applied robustly in CBA, policy evaluation and in social value studies. I do this by developing a complete theory of WV and a new set of technical criteria to be used to assess the rigour of WV studies. I then develop a new statistical method for WV, the Three Step Wellbeing Valuation (3S-WV) method, and demonstrate how it solves for the main technical issues and improves the values and results derived from the method. I also provide a new framework for interpreting values derived from WV. I showcase the new 3S-WV method on a case study to value the non-pecuniary benefits of employment.
... To effectively plan and design UGS, it is essential to understand how people use them and the factors that influence their usage [9] . This understanding can help inform decision-makers regarding green space location, design features, amenities, and maintenance. ...
Urban green spaces (UGS), such as parks, gardens, forests, and green infrastructure, supply numerous regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services to urban communities, which is key for their wellbeing. To effectively plan and design UGS, it is crucial to understand how people use them and the factors that influence their usage. The diverse range of factors includes cultural, socioeconomic, demographic, seasonal, and spatial aspects, which present a challenge for studying these areas. Data collection methods based on observation enable capturing of high-quality data that reflect the behaviours in UGS, providing valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers. Standardised protocols and frameworks facilitate knowledge gathering, allowing researchers and practitioners to build upon evidence for effective urban planning and policymaking. This work aims to develop a method based on a mobile app to collect observation-based data on UGS usage efficiently.•Mobile app to collect georeferenced information on observed activities, basic sociodemographic characteristics, time and seasonal factors, and park characteristics, including the spatial distribution of park recreational equipment.•App optimised for fast and accurate data collection.•Focused on cultural ecosystem services.
... The subjective measures of UGS identified from the reviewed articles were biocultural diversity, emotional attachment, perceived safety, visual access, visual quality, and visual quantity. Biocultural diversity was only mentioned in a study in Japan, which reported that UGS surrounding the shrines had more impact on residents' life satisfaction compared to urban parks (Aoshima et al., 2018). The study also reported that even same-sized UGS reported having different happiness scores because of the people's perception of the extent of UGS (visual quantity). ...
... Geoinformation systems and technologies (GIS) and remote sensing technologies are advanced tools for assessing the reclamation condition of agricultural lands [1]. Given the gradual decrease in productivity in agricultural lands, particularly irrigated lands [2], constant observations and effective monitoring systems are necessary, as well as the implementation of measures to increase agricultural productivity [3,4]. ...
The importance of land distribution across all sectors of the national economy cannot be overstated, particularly in agriculture. Agricultural land plays a critical role in meeting the population's food needs and satisfying the demand for raw materials in the industry. The fertility of the land is the main productive property in agriculture. Continuous improvements in land productivity, combined with the adoption of innovative technologies, are key factors in modern agriculture development. However, natural and anthropogenic factors are negatively impacting agricultural land productivity, leading to a decrease in productivity. To prevent this, urgent measures must be taken to improve the reclamation conditions of agricultural lands, develop regions following climate change, and effectively organize cadastral reclamation activities. Additionally, monitoring the reclamation condition of agricultural lands is crucial in times of scarcity. This research focuses on the assessment of the melioration condition of agricultural land in the Pakhtakor district of the Republic of Uzbekistan, using geoinformation technologies and remote sensing data. These technologies enable the low-cost, timely, and high-accuracy measurement of changes in soil conditions over large land areas. By continuously monitoring the earth's surface, we can identify existing problems and develop timely solutions to address them. In research, enhancing agricultural land productivity is a critical task for modern agriculture development. Innovative technologies and effective monitoring strategies, such as geoinformation and remote sensing techniques, are essential to achieving this goal. Through this research, we hope to contribute to the continued improvement of land management practices and sustainable agriculture in Uzbekistan.
... The physical environment it contains is not only related to vision but also may lead to a variety of other sensory experiences. There is a relationship between the production of human senses and their physical environment, and it is of great significance to evaluate residents' overall perceptions and satisfaction after using them in urban decision-making and planning systems [57,58]. Subjective and comprehensive reflections on these dimensions revealed the overall emotional impression of space, which is the result of multiple senses working together, but the role of other senses besides sight is often overlooked [58][59][60]. ...
The integration of multisensory-based public subjective perception into planning, management, and policymaking is of great significance for the sustainable development and protection of UGBS. Online reviews are a suitable data source for this issue, which includes information about public sentiment, perception of the physical environment, and sensory description. This study adopts the deep learning method to obtain effective information from online reviews and found that in 105 major sites of Tokyo (23 districts), the public overall perception level is not balanced. Rich multi-sense will promote the perception level, especially hearing and somatosensory senses that have a higher positive prediction effect than vision, and overall perception can start improving by optimizing these two senses. Even if only one adverse sense exists, it will seriously affect the perception level, such as bad smell and noise. Optimizing the physical environment by adding natural elements for different senses is conducive to overall perception. Sensory maps can help to quickly find areas that require improvement. This study provides a new method for rapid multisensory analysis and complementary public participation for specific situations, which helps to increase the well-being of UGBS and give play to its multi-functionality.
... Subjective measures generally (not just in relation to the environment) have been found to correspond more strongly with self-reported subjective wellbeing or LS than objective measures (Cummins, 2000), and there can be discrepancies between subjective and objective measures, for example, between respondents' satisfaction with urban green area and open space (Ma, Dong, Chen, & Zhang, 2018)) and objective environmental indicators such as hectares of greenspace per capital within respondents local region (Ambrey & Cartlidge, 2017)) as has been noted in the literature (Kothencz & Blaschke, 2017). Moreover, respondents' perception of same size green spaces differ depending on their types: biodiversity, presence of old trees, density of trees, presence of recreational areas (Aoshima, Uchida, Ushimaru, & Sato, 2018). ...
There has always been interest in understanding what constitutes the good life and the basis for creating it. Much has been written about health and wellbeing at multiple scales, from the physical and psychological through to the societal and environmental. Wellbeing has been studied from the perspectives of psychology, medicine, economics, social science, ecology, and political science. However, the interconnections between these scales and perspectives have received far less attention even though understanding these interdependencies is critical to the comprehensive understanding of wellbeing and how to improve it. In this book, the authors aim to create an integrated science of wellbeing that connects these diverse scales and perspectives to better guide research and public policy. The contributing authors are distinguished in their respective fields and provide a synthesis of this wellbeing research. But, in each chapter, they also consider the interconnections between the psychological, human biological, societal, and environmental domains of wellbeing research. Hence, while the book is divided into four sections representing each of these domains, integration across all scales is sought throughout. This integrated approach offers a first step toward a more complete understanding of wellbeing that can propel wellbeing research and initiatives in novel and fruitful directions.
... In this study, the hydromodule zoning and irrigation regime of crops was developed on the basis of scientific research of V V Shreder, P M Legostaev, N F Bespalov, A E Avliyokulov B S Mambetnazarov and others [19][20][21][22][23]. ...
The article deals with the issue of hydromodule zoning of agricultural land. The negative impact of the environmental factors of the Aral Sea requires more work on the efficient use of agricultural land in the region. The focus of the research is on the efficient use of agricultural land based on the optimal placement of Agricultural crops. Optimizing the use of agricultural land by dividing areas into taxonomic units is considered to be one of the effective methods. In this study, the land of P. Seytov’s massive, Chimboy district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, within the Republic of Uzbekistan, was selected as a study area. Hydromodule zoning of the cultivated areas of the research object was done using GIS technologies. In this, data on soil types and mechanical composition of the object, groundwater, and irrigation methods were used. Overlay, raster calculation, and raster classification methods were used using ArcGIS 10.6 software. As a result, a hydromodule map of the research object was created. Based on the created hydromodule map, the scenario of placement of agricultural crops based on 2 different options was developed and water consumption was analyzed.
... The critical importance of ecosystem conservation for humans is now widely recognized [10]. In particular, urban ecosystems are receiving increasing attention, given today's rapid urban population growth [5,26] and because they contribute to the mental health of residents in their stressful city lives [2,14]. ...
This study focused on rivers as an urban blue space and investigated how urban residents perceive the biodiversity of rivers around their homes to understand whether people’s evaluation of biodiversity changes depended on the extent of their nature experiences. Quantitative data measured by the environmental DNA method were used as an indicator of biodiversity, while urban residents' perceptions of the river and their experiences of nature were ascertained by conducting a social survey. A regression analysis of 312 responses of people living in the catchment areas around 20 rivers showed that for participants with more childhood nature experiences, their satisfaction with their neighborhood waterfront areas tended to increase as river biodiversity increased. However, for those who have had fewer childhood experiences with nature, an increase in biodiversity resulted in lower satisfaction with waterfront areas. These results indicate that modern urban residents with little experience with nature tend to prefer concrete paved rivers for their recreational value and walkability rather than rivers with high biodiversity.
... The different UGS types' relation between ES and wellbeing lacks a deeper understanding. Several studies have suggested that the qualitative features of UGS influence the effects on wellbeing (e.g., Aoshima et al., 2018;Wood et al., 2018). For instance, Carrus et al. (2013) reported that the UGS level of naturalness is critical for the psychological wellbeing of visitors, while Dobson et al. (2021) stated that poor quality UGS have adverse effects on wellbeing. ...
Urban green spaces (UGS) supply several ecosystem services (ES) key to human wellbeing. In this article, we conducted a systematic review focused on identifying UGS's ES and wellbeing dimensions. From the 3626 articles screened, 218 were used in this review. Most studies were conducted in Europe, China, the United States of America (USA) and South Africa. Among all UGS, parks and gardens were the most investigated, with less of a focus on urban trees, forests, coastal mangroves, golf courses, roadside vegetation, and brownfields/unmanaged urban greenery. Cultural ES were the most studied, although it is well known that UGS also supply many provisioning and regulating ES. Health (mental and physical) and good social relations were the most investigated wellbeing dimensions, and food security received the least attention. Regarding the methodologies used to investigate the UGS contribution to human wellbeing, surveys, indicators, and surveys combined with statistical methods were the most common. Only a few works focusing on spatial modelling were validated, which is critical to ensure the reliability of the spatial models applied to UGS ES studies. Overall, this work identified the research gaps and future perspectives in ES and wellbeing dimensions provided by UGS, key to improving further research.
... Tsurumi et al. (2018) further investigated various types of well-being measures and their relationships with diverse and detailed types of green spaces. Aoshima et al. (2018) focused on the gaps between perception of green spaces and physical attributes using life satisfaction measures in Japanese urban areas. In South Korea, Jang et al. (2019) found subjective well-being is affected not by proximity to urban forests, but by visit frequency. ...
The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of natural capital on overall subjective well-being and forest-related subjective well-being. A questionnaire survey of 1698 urban and rural residents living in a watershed of Japan was conducted in February and March of 2016. Multiple regression and moderation effect analyses are conducted to statistically estimate the respective influences of natural capital, human-made capital, social capital, human capital, and other demographic factors on the above-mentioned two types of subjective well-being. Forest-related activities, human engagement with forests, are supposed to be of great societal and political importance for Japanese society, where past management practices have, at least quantitatively, restored forests from past deforestation. Our statistical analysis tests whether specific engagement with natural capital (forest-related activities) is positively related to subjective well-being. Following the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen, forest-related activities are interpreted as functionings, and the analysis highlights the importance of functionings as links between natural capital and subjective well-being. The results show several forest-related activities have statistically significant effects on overall and forest-related well-being. For respondents living in less forested areas and with less social capital, forest-related activities have stronger effects on their subjective well-being, suggesting that the individual subjective well-being of urban residents and those with less social capital can be enhanced through engagement with forests.
... Research on subjective perceptions of UGS will provide a better understanding of the quality and quantity of urban green spaces (13,14), as well as ecosystem services. Cultural ecosystem services provide the critical role of UGS from the perspective of users, and thus offer a promising way to integrate citizens' perceptions into urban planning (15,16). ...
Urban green space can bring various ecosystem benefits to diverse social groups. Among those ecosystem benefits, intangible social values are often neglected but highly relevant to human welfare. Existing research on the social values of urban green space often focusses on the perspective of urban inhabitants rather than tourists, even though tourists are also major beneficiaries. By combining different data sources into a comprehensive source about green-space social values, we investigated the disparity between inhabitants' and tourists' perceptions about space-associated social values, and further explored the underlying environmental conditions in the East Lake scenic area, Wuhan. For this, we collected 347 questionnaires through an on-site survey and 11,908 photos uploaded by 2165 social media users (Sina Blog), and we used SolVES (Social Value for Ecosystem Services) to uncover the spatial patterns of social values and the relationships between social value indicators and natural surroundings. Social-value hotspots occurred near water and trails. Perceptions differed, however, between inhabitants and tourists. Inhabitants perceived a larger scale of social values and could benefit more from recreation and economic values. Tourists, on the other hand, showed greater appreciation for aesthetic and cultural values. Environmental features were associated with social values to differing extent; distance to water and land use/cover exerted significantly influence. These findings should be taken into consideration to improve urban spatial planning and to optimize green infrastructures for human welfare.
... The study reveals conspicuous decreasing trends in agricultural land, forest cover and bare land in the Barddhaman district over the period 1987-2017, in particular due to the expansion of built-up land, whereas there is a less consistent increasing trend recorded in areas occupied by plantations and water bodies (Figure 2). Numerous previous studies have also noted marked losses of agricultural land and forest cover due to urban expansion in South Asia (e.g., Nor et al., 2017;Aoshima et al., 2018) most notably in urban regions of India (Moghadam and Helbich, 2013). Published statistics are compatible with the observed changes; the Barddhaman (Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, 1995/2006) and Higher Education Department (1997 report that more than 25% of the land was developed and that forest cover declined more than 65% within the last three decades. ...
Land transformation is caused by natural as well as anthropogenic driving forces and its impact on the regional environment is a key issue in understanding the relationship between society and the environment. Here, we investigate Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change over four decades, based on Landsat satellite imagery for 1987, 1997, 2007, and 2017, for the Barddhaman district of West Bengal, India. In total, six land use and land cover types have been identified. Over the period in question, there are notable increases in the area under built-up land, plantations and water bodies, whereas there has been a marked decrease in forest cover, agricultural land, and in bare land. The diverse effects of land transformation on the natural environment have been assessed using Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Effective Roughness Length (ERL), and Surface Albedo (SA). Overall, mean annual LST increased by 2.91°C during the study period, while there were reduced values for vegetation indices and an increase in the water index over the period 1987–2017. LAI and ERL both exhibit notable decreases, although the pattern was not uniform across the study area. For example, LAI values increased over time in the Kalna, Memari, Jamalpur, Ausgram, and Kanksa regions. In Faridpur-Durgapur, Raniganj, Asansol, and Raina, increases in surface albedo and ERL were more marked than in other regions. Negative correlations are found between LST-NDVI and NDVI-NDWI, while there is no correlation between LST and NDWI. During the period 1987–2017, NDVI values have declined, although the NDWI shows no clear trend. LULC change is shown to have had a series of negative impacts on the environment of the Barddhaman district. In response, technological, economic, policy, or legislation measures are needed to restore degraded ecosystem services in the district as well as other areas where similar impacts are experienced.
... The spatio-temporal study found conspicuous changes in the green space areas in Mumbai during 1988-2018 due to expansion of urban areas, growing built-up areas and huge flux of migration. Many of the previous studies have also found that the areas and proportion of green spaces have noticeably changed due to new construction, developmental projects and subsequent urban expansion in South Asia (Nor et al. 2017;Aoshima et al. 2018;Thakur et al. 2020) and particularly in Mumbai (Sahana et al. 2018;Moghadam and Helbich 2013). Similarly, Environment Policy and Research India (2017) has also reported that more than 35% of Mumbai was covered with green foliage in 1970s but has reduced to only 13% in 2017 accounting for 60% reduction. ...
In the context of rapid urbanization and climate change, urban green spaces significantly contribute to mitigate the subsequent increasing urban heat island (UHI), particularly to reduce the increasing land surface temperature (LST), aridity and intensity of heat waves through their cooling effects in the surrounding areas. The gradual depletion of urban green spaces, largely due to increasing population pressure and urban expansion, has resulted in the land use land cover change (LULC) and has altered the micro-climate of the urban ecosystem. In this context, the present study has analysed and assessed the changing scale and spatial layout of the urban green spaces using the landsat thematic mapper (TM) and OLI/ TIRS remote sensing image data from 1988 and 2018 in Mumbai city. Multiple correlation matrix analysis of LST and NDVI, with 200 sample sites of Mumbai, has been carried out to demonstrate how the LST of green space has been changed to other LULC over the period of three decades. The assessment using various indices like LST, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land surface emissivity (LSE) and leaf area index (LAI) indicated that there has been drastic transformation of urban green spaces; it has reduced from 46.42% in 1988 to 26.67% in 2018. The areas of LST higher than 30.50 °C have dramatically increased from 5232 ha in 1988 to 14,339 ha in 2018. The expanding urbanization has engulfed half of the dense vegetation having > 0.3 NDVI index; it has reduced from 17,406 ha in 1988 to 9910 ha in 2018. Since declining green spaces is a negative indicator to the environment, the policy makers, planners and legislation should emphasize and adopt measures to restore green areas of the Mumbai metropolitan region.
... They suggested that a low level or absence of anthropogenic disturbance following land abandonment causes a decline in habitat quality, resulting in biodiversity loss. Here, we argue that counteracting the abandonment of satoyama is particularly essential in urbanized landscapes because conserving the biodiversity would have a payoff to the urban communities (Dallimer et al. 2012;Aoshima et al. 2018). Biodiversity in satoyama ecosystems potentially provides a range a Agricultural use is managed by thinning to obtain timber and wood fuel at woodlands, and mowing practices eliminate pests constraining crop growth at grasslands. ...
Satoyama is one of the semi-natural ecosystems in Japan. Traditional agricultural practices in satoyama provide preferable habitats for many species, thus, enhancing biodiversity. However, many satoyama ecosystems have been altered by agricultural intensification and rapid urbanization. Meanwhile, ageing and shrinking population has led to the abandonment of remaining satoyama ecosystems, resulting in their potential degradation. We argue that counteracting the abandonment of satoyama is particularly essential in urbanized landscapes because conserving its biodiversity would have a payoff for urban communities. We focused on nature-oriented park use of satoyama ecosystems, utilizing their original scenery, topography, water features, and vegetation. To evaluate the potential of nature-oriented park use for biodiversity conservation, we examined the differences in diversity and species composition of vascular plants and butterflies among three land-use types (agricultural-use, park-use, and abandoned sites) of satoyama ecosystems. Diversity of native plants and butterflies did not significantly differ between agricultural-use and park-use sites and that of native plants was significantly lower at abandoned sites than at agricultural-use sites. Although species composition of native plants at agricultural-use sites and park-use sites significantly differ, that of native butterflies did not. The efficacy of park use for biodiversity conservation, thus, depended on the taxa. Nonetheless, for striking a balance between the difficulty in maintaining agricultural use and accelerating satoyama abandonment, our study highlights the utility of park use as an alternative usage, contributing to biodiversity conservation. Balancing the wise use of satoyama in urbanized landscapes is a fundamental step toward the conservation of its biodiversity and human–nature interactions.
... Previous studies which explored the impacts of perception and were related to ecosystem services were limited to cultural ecosystem services or the valuation of green spaces (Aoshima et al., 2018;Ko and Son, 2018;Riechers et al., 2016). This study added novel evidence into this filed with a more comprehensive classification of UGS types and more detailed categories of ecosystem services associated with UGS. ...
While planning and management of urban green space (UGS) remain primarily driven by policymakers and expert knowledge, increasing attention has been paid to the general public's perception of and demand for UGS. This study was conducted to provide price-related outcomes to support UGS-related decision making and achieve an improved understanding of the causal relationships underpinning the residents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for UGS conservation. An extensive survey with 3000 urban residents from three provincial capital cities in central China (i.e., Wuhan, Changsha and Nanchang) was conducted. We applied structural equation modelling to examine a range of hypothetical causal relationships among residents' perceptions about ecosystem services/disser-vices provided by UGS, frequency of UGS visits, socioeconomic status (SES) and WTP for the conservation of five different types of UGS. We found that residents had an average WTP of 202.4 CNY or 30.6 USD per year cross UGS types, with the attached green space having the greatest WTP (223.0 CNY or 33.7 USD per year), followed by park (215.4 CNY or 32.6 USD year), square (201.7 CNY or 30.5 USD year), suburban ecological (190.1 CNY or 28.7 USD year) and protective (182.0 CNY or 27.5 USD year) green spaces. Perceptions of UGS's ecosystem services had a positive causal impact on WTP, while perceptions of ecosystem disservices would have a negative impact. The frequency of UGS visits was found to amplify WTP at a limited level. It could further heighten and diminish the perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices. Participants with higher SES typically had greater perceptions of UGS's ecosystem services and WTP. Finally, we found that the structure of the causal relationships on WTP varied between cities, highlighting the importance of considering the fine-level impacts of biophysical environment jointly. Our results could help urban planners to understand better the ways urban green space was perceived and anticipate the likely effects of changing spatial patterns of UGS on the benefits and nuisances experienced by the general public.
... Estos elementos podrían servir para tratar problemas de planificación urbana relacionados con dotación de AV y de congestión. En este aspecto, los métodos de BS/CV pueden ser útiles porque complementarían los hedónicos de valoración (Ambrey y Fleming, 2011;Aoshima et al., 2018;Kim y Jin, 2018). No obstante, los valores obtenidos aquí son un indicador de la importancia de las áreas verdes (parques urbanos y árboles y plantas de ornato) en la vida de los citadinos. ...
El objetivo de la investigación es realizar una valoración económica de dos variables: parques urbanos y árboles y plantas de ornato en Ciudad de México, con datos de la Encuesta de Percepción de Calidad de Vida, de 2012. Se emplearon modelos de calidad de vida, en función de variables sociodemográficas, servicios e ingreso mensual promedio del hogar. Según los resultados, con base en los parámetros estimados, la presencia de parques y árboles y plantas de ornato en el entorno es positiva para la calidad de vida de la población. La limitación del estudio es que los valores calculados pueden ser complementarios a las valoraciones por precios hedónicos, y para saber si es así se requiere investigar más sobre el mercado de vivienda; además de considerar problemas de endogeneidad en el ingreso, que pueden sobreestimar los valores monetarios. Se concluye que estos últimos son indicadores de la incidencia positiva de las dos variables valoradas en la calidad de vida de los citadinos.
Urban nature increases the liveability of cities and can improve their resilience to climate change. However, the value of urban nature often remains unknown, which results in its omission from urban planning decisions. Particularly the valuation of small-sized urban nature remains understudied. This study therefore employs a stated preference methodology to estimate the economic value of seven types of small urban nature and four associated ecosystem services. We perform two choice experiments: one with urban parks, urban forest and green corridors and another one with even smaller urban nature types (green roofs, green walls, street trees and green beds). The results of the choice analysis show that urban residents are willing to pay more for the former types of urban nature but not for the latter types. Urban parks are valued the most, followed by urban forests and green corridors. Within the category of the smallest urban nature types, street trees are valued most followed by green beds green walls, whereas green walls and green roofs are least valued. We discuss opportunities and barriers to implementing economic valuation results in urban planning practices. Several policy and future research recommendations are proposed.
Cities are becoming more vulnerable to climate change and need appropriate adaptation measures. Previous studies demonstrated that urban green spaces provide multiple ecosystem services, improving the health and well-being of urban residents. Yet different urban green spaces provide different services—provisioning, regulating, cultural, or supporting ones. This work aims first to understand if urban green space users perceive the different supplies of provisioning and regulating services offered by different types of urban green spaces. Second, this work seeks to determine if green roof type conditions, as well as vegetation type and access, affect the users’ perceptions of the cultural ecosystem services. This work presents the results of an image-based online survey performed among 376 Portuguese undergraduate students between March and April 2021. The survey is based on nine alternative urban space designs, varying the roof access type and vegetation types. The results show a general preference for urban green spaces with more vegetation, regardless of the type of roof, and a general preference for green spaces with better accessibility. In addition, users’ preference for no-roof conditions appears to be linked to the abundance of vegetation and quality of urban design and not to awareness of an existing roof structure and its influence on the natural processes.
Persistent inequalities in use of bluespaces mean their wellbeing benefits are not fairly shared, a situation which can only be addressed through understanding why people do not access them. This paper addresses complex influences on bluespace accessibility through qualitative research into perceptions of urban waterways, with a focus on non-use. It aims to reveal what distinguishes these as spaces available for outdoor recreation in terms of deterrents to access. Results highlight the significance of spatial characteristics as reasons for avoiding bluespaces: unguarded water and a history of negative narratives limit their appeal. Analysis finds risk perception a strong influence on choice of outdoor destinations, an absolute limit rather than a nuisance, particularly for vulnerable groups. Designers and managers of urban bluespaces can encourage use through enhancing environmental quality. Improved cleanliness, lighting, and surveillance will improve their sense of safety. This research suggests a need to assess sites from varied perspectives, mindful of vulnerable people's experiences, to identify how perceived risks can be mitigated. To further equitable access to bluespaces future research should recognise that the influence of spatial characteristics means access constraints may not be generalised across types of space. Additional qualitative investigation of non-use of varied spaces is required to inform interventions to promote access amongst under-represented groups.
Urban green spaces and their role in the quality of life of residents have been studied across multiple disciplines, based on empirical measurements or qualitative studies – however, the relation, and its strength, between spatial indicators of urban green spaces and visitors’ perceptions of green spaces are less known. Addressing this knowledge deficit, the present research uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to link subjective evaluations of the physical environment and objective spatial indicators, to examine the correlation between the perceived and objective characteristics of five urban parks in the city of Szeged, Hungary. A questionnaire survey was used to collect residents’ subjective perceptions of the parks, while objective – which is to say measurable and mappable – spatially explicit indicators of the respective green spaces were calculated using GIS. The subjective evaluations of the parks were matched to the objective indicators using a multiple regression analysis. The statistical analysis yielded two moderate and two minor correlations between the human perceptions of the investigated green spaces and the nine objective environmental indicators examined. These results showed that subjective evaluations and objective data reveal different aspects of the same reality. Therefore, the recommendations from this study are to collectively use human perceptions and objective environmental indicators, both of which are fundamental for adequately capturing the role of urban green spaces in quality of life.
Urban cultural ecosystem services are understood differently by experts and laypersons. Yet, unaccounted differences can lead to management problems for urban green spaces, as experts may recommend practices that do not meet the laypersons’ wishes. Qualitative research on the perception of cultural ecosystem services can be one tool to analyze these differences. We use expert and problem-centered interviews to assess differences in cultural ecosystem service perceptions for experts and laypersons in Berlin. Using an innovative approach, we combine inductive qualitative content analysis with a frequency analysis and multidimensional scaling. This explorative study innovatively merges qualitative and quantitative approaches to show new ways of analysis. Our results show that the experts’ perceptions of nature appear to be more practical, management-centered, whereas laypersons appear to prioritize enjoyment of nature. Overall, multidimensional scaling indicates different perceptions and conceptualizations of cultural ecosystem service bundles, emphasizing the diverging understandings. If these different perceptions are not accounted for it could lead to social and political contrast. They should therefore be acknowledged in decision-making and goal formulation for the management of urban green.
The easy availability and widespread use of remotely-sensed imagery, especially Google Earth satellite imagery, makes it simple for urban forestry professionals to assess a site and measure tree cover density without visiting the site. Remotely-sensed tree cover density has become the dominant criterion for urban forestry regulations in many countries, but it is unclear how much such measures match the eye-level tree cover density that people experience; or the information gained through site visits, eye-level photography, or from consulting with citizens. To address this uncertainty, we assessed associations among two remotely-sensed and three eye-level tree cover density measures for 140 community street sites across the Midwestern United States with low, medium, or high tree cover coverage by using linear regression analysis. We found significant associations among the two remotely-sensed measures and the three eye-level measures across the three levels of tree cover. The associations between any pair of remotely-sensed and eye-level measures, however, diminish dramatically as canopy cover increased. At high levels of canopy cover, all associations between the remotely-sensed measures and the eye-level measures became statistically insignificant. These findings suggest that measures from remotely-sensed imagery fail to represent the amount of tree cover people perceive at eye-level when canopy cover is medium or high at the site scale. Therefore, the current urban forestry planning regulations, which rely heavily on remotely-sensed tree cover density measurements, need to be revised. We suggest strategic spots where eye-level measures of tree cover density should be emphasized.
Studies have shown that natural environments can enhance health and here we build upon that work by examining the associations between comprehensive greenspace metrics and health. We focused on a large urban population center (Toronto, Canada) and related the two domains by combining high-resolution satellite imagery and individual tree data from Toronto with questionnaire-based self-reports of general health perception, cardio-metabolic conditions and mental illnesses from the Ontario Health Study. Results from multiple regressions and multivariate canonical correlation analyses suggest that people who live in neighborhoods with a higher density of trees on their streets report significantly higher health perception and significantly less cardio-metabolic conditions (controlling for socio-economic and demographic factors). We find that having 10 more trees in a city block, on average, improves health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $10,000 higher median income or being 7 years younger. We also find that having 11 more trees in a city block, on average, decreases cardio-metabolic conditions in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $20,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $20,000 higher median income or being 1.4 years younger.
Green space is now widely viewed as a health-promoting characteristic of residential environments, and has been linked to mental health benefits such as recovery from mental fatigue and reduced stress, particularly through experimental work in environmental psychology. Few population level studies have examined the relationships between green space and mental health. Further, few studies have considered the role of green space in non-urban settings. This study contributes a population-level perspective from the United States to examine the relationship between environmental green space and mental health outcomes in a study area that includes a spectrum of urban to rural environments. Multivariate survey regression analyses examine the association between green space and mental health using the unique, population-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin database. Analyses were adjusted for length of residence in the neighborhood to reduce the impact of neighborhood selection bias. Higher levels of neighborhood green space were associated with significantly lower levels of symptomology for depression, anxiety and stress, after controlling for a wide range of confounding factors. Results suggest that "greening" could be a potential population mental health improvement strategy in the United States.
Green spaces have positive effects on human well-being and quality of life in cities. So far, studies in this field mainly compared preferences for, and outcomes of contact with, natural vs. built environments. Less attention has been given to the study of the psychological effects of contact with green spaces differing in their degree of naturalness. This paper thus aims at understanding the relation between ecological (e.g., level of naturalness) and psychological factors (e.g., perceived restorativeness) in shaping evaluations of different urban and peri-urban green spaces. Five typologies of green space have been identified in the city of Bari (southern Italy), ranging from minimum (i.e., high level of man-made elements) to maximum levels of naturalness (i.e., low level of man-made elements). A set of pictures of the different urban green space typologies was shown to fifty undergraduate students of the University of Bari, and then measures of perceived restorativeness were taken. Results show that perceived restorativeness is the highest in peri-urban green spaces, and increases significantly as a function of the level of naturalness.
Las zonas verdes tienen efectos positivos sobre el bienestar y la calidad de vida de los habitantes de las ciudades. Hasta el momento, los estudios en este campo han llevado a cabo fundamentalmente comparaciones entre las preferencias hacia ambientes naturales y las preferencias hacia ambientes construidos, así como entre las consecuencias del contacto con ambos ambientes. Pero se ha prestado menos atención al estudio de los efectos psicológicos del contacto con zonas verdes con distinto grado de naturalidad. Este artículo pretende por tanto ayudar a comprender la relación entre los factores ecológicos (nivel de naturalidad) y psicológicos (potencial restaurador percibido) y su efecto en las valoraciones de distintas zonas verdes urbanas y periurbanas. Se identificaron cinco tipologías de zona verde en la ciudad de Bari (sur de Italia), oscilando entre niveles mínimos (alta presencia de elementos de fabricación humana) y máximos (baja presencia de elementos de fabricación humana) de naturalidad. Se mostró un conjunto de fotografías de las distintas tipologías de zonas verdes urbanas a cincuenta estudiantes de grado de la Universidad de Bari, y a continuación se tomaron medidas de potencial restaurador percibido. Los resultados muestran que el potencial restaurador percibido más alto es el registrado en las zonas verdes periurbanas, y que aumenta significativamente en función del nivel de naturalidad.
This paper examines the influence of public greenspace on the life satisfaction of residents of Australia's capital cities. A positive relationship is found between the percentage of public greenspace in a resident's local area and their self-reported life satisfaction, on average corresponding to an implicit willingness-to-pay of $1172 in annual household income for a 1 per cent (143 square metres) increase in public greenspace. Additional results suggest that the value of greenspace increases with population density and that lone parents and the less educated benefit to a greater extent from the provision of public greenspace than the general population. In all, these results support existing evidence that public greenspace is welfare enhancing for urban residents and adequate allowance should be made for its provision when planning urban areas.
The life satisfaction approach has recently emerged as a new technique in the suite of options available to non-market valuation practitioners. This paper examines the influence of ecosystem diversity on the life satisfaction of residents of South East Queensland, Australia. It is found that, on average, a respondent is willing-to-pay approximately AUD$20,000 in household income per annum to obtain a one-unit improvement in ecosystem diversity. This result indicates that the life satisfaction effects of improvements in ecosystem diversity are substantial, and greater than the welfare effects implied by studies using more conventional non-market valuation techniques.
As urban green spaces are important for residential satisfaction, human preferences are a key criterion in their design. However, preferences may vary between landscape planners and residents, which may result in differences between residents’ demands and the actual design. With urban derelict land becoming an important part of the urban green infrastructure, information about the perception and acceptance by residents compared to formal urban parks is important for their planning and design. It was thus examined how different types of urban green spaces are perceived by landscape planners and residents. Criteria for the classification of green spaces used by both participant groups were compared, as were the criteria that influenced preference.
Participants sorted and rated photographs of parks and urban derelict land in two different tasks. Hierarchical cluster analyses and multidimensional scaling analyses were used to characterize the participants’ perceptual space. By conducting multiple regression analyses the resulting perceptual dimensions were related to preference.
The identified perceptual criteria used to distinguish green spaces were degree of canopy closure, artificiality vs. naturalness, prospect, physical accessibility, and beauty. For residents, the degree of canopy closure was the most important criterion for classification; for landscape planners, it was artificiality. Preferences varied between groups: whereas landscape planners preferred rather natural areas with low accessibility and high species richness, the residents showed a greater preference for formal parks.
As a practical implication, the study suggests that residents generally accept urban derelict land as recreational areas if a minimum of maintenance and accessibility is provided. When designing green spaces, landscape planners may consider these differences in their preferences compared to residents.
Over half of the world's human population lives in cities, and for many, urban greenspaces are the only places where they encounter biodiversity. This is of particular concern because there is growing evidence that human well-being is enhanced by exposure to nature. However, the specific qualities of greenspaces that offer the greatest benefits remain poorly understood. One possibility is that humans respond positively to increased levels of biodiversity. Here, we demonstrate the lack of a consistent relationship between actual plant, butterfly, and bird species richness and the psychological well-being of urban greenspace visitors. instead, well-being shows a positive relationship with the richness that the greenspace users perceived to be present. One plausible explanation for this discrepancy, which we investigate, is that people generally have poor biodiversity-identification skills. The apparent importance of perceived species richness and the mismatch between reality and perception pose a serious challenge for aligning conservation and human well-being agendas.
This paper reviews previous research on the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing), and presents new results from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan. The term Shinrin-yoku was coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982, and can be defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest. In order to clarify the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku, we conducted field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. In each experiment, 12 subjects (280 total; ages 21.7 +/- 1.5 year) walked in and viewed a forest or city area. On the first day, six subjects were sent to a forest area, and the others to a city area. On the second day, each group was sent to the other area as a cross-check. Salivary cortisol, blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability were used as indices. These indices were measured in the morning at the accommodation facility before breakfast and also both before and after the walking (for 16 +/- 5 min) and viewing (for 14 +/- 2 min). The R-R interval was also measured during the walking and viewing periods. The results show that forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments. These results will contribute to the development of a research field dedicated to forest medicine, which may be used as a strategy for preventive medicine.
To estimate the impact of air pollution on well-being, we combine a set of repeated cross-sectional surveys of individuals with high-resolution pollution and weather data. The respondents’ level of life satisfaction is modeled as a function of their socioeconomic characteristics and income as well as the weather and air pollution on the day of the survey interview. To overcome endogeneity problems, we include a set of high-resolution geographic fixed effects. Our analysis suggests that even after controlling for seasonal and local fixed effects, higher air pollution significantly reduces life satisfaction. The adverse effect of transient increases in air pollution is greater on individuals with poor health status. Estimating the average compensating differential between income and air pollution shows that the value of improving air quality by one-half standard deviation throughout the year is about 4.4 % of the average annual income of Canadians. © 2016 Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies and Springer Japan
We investigate the effect of urban land use on residential well-being in major German cities, using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and cross-section data from the European Urban Atlas. We reduce concerns about endogeneity by employing fixed-effects (within) estimators, with individual and city of residence fixed effects, while controlling for a rich set of observables. The results show that access to green urban areas, such as gardens and parks, is positively associated with, whereas access to abandoned areas, such as waste or leftover land, is negatively associated with life satisfaction. The effects are strongest for residents who are older, accounting for up to a third of the size of the effect of being unemployed on life satisfaction. We calculate the marginal willingness-to-pay of residents in order to have access to green urban and abandoned areas in their surroundings, as well as the life-satisfaction maximising amounts of them. Finally, we provide a policy case study, while discussing limitations and avenues for future research.
Extreme weather events cause harm among the aggrieved party that often goes beyond material damages. This paper studies the impact of extreme weather events on measures of self-reported life satisfaction. Focusing on Germany, we use representative panel data for 2000–2011 to study the effect of seven storm & hail events and five floods on subjective well-being in the affected NUTS 3 regions. Our results indicate that both weather experiences bear statistically significant negative externalities. Following an extreme weather event, life satisfaction is reduced by 0.020–0.027 on the 11-point scale. While the effect of storm & hail events is rather immediate in nature, the effect from floods persists much longer.
This study applies the Life Satisfaction Approach to evaluate green spaces in terms of its affluence, people's preference for greenery, and distance from people's houses. Data are derived from a survey of 2158 respondents in the two largest regions of Japan (Kanto and Kansai) and the green coverage rate is derived from Geographic Information System (GIS) data. The estimation results show that (1) people's marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for green space decreases as the current amount of green space increases; (2) they show how people's marginal WTP increases in proportion with their affection for it, the amount of interaction they have with it, their knowledge of its multiple functions, and the quality of greenery with which they normally come in contact; and (3) the results reveal the various marginal WTP values for green spaces in terms of distance from respondents' houses.
This study investigated the psychological (perceived restorativeness, subjective vitality, mood, creativity) and physiological (salivary cortisol concentration) effects of short-term visits to urban nature environments. Seventy-seven participants visited three different types of urban areas; a built-up city centre (as a control environment), an urban park, and urban woodland located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Our results show that the large urban park and extensively managed urban woodland had almost the same positive influence, but the overall perceived restorativeness was higher in the woodland after the experiment. The findings suggest that even short-term visits to nature areas have positive effects on perceived stress relief compared to built-up environment. The salivary cortisol level decreased in a similar fashion in all three urban environments during the experiment. The relations between psychological measures and physiological measures, as well as the influence of nature exposure on different groups of people, need to be studied further.
Few applications to assess the value of cultural experiences exist. This is particularly frustrating for cultural institutions, as it provides them with few opportunities to reveal their importance in terms of attractiveness and thus what drives tourism demand. This study applies the travel cost method (TCM) and contingent valuation method (CVM) to assess the value of two rural cultural institutions in order to compare the results of the valuation methods.
The results reveal that visitor experiences consist of a core cultural experience as well as other valuable experiences before and after. Whereas CVM allows for a valuation of the core cultural experience separately from other experiences, the TCM is limited to an overall assessment. The TCM is therefore an inappropriate measure of the value of the cultural experiences when the total experience includes several other experiences.
If visitors travel for the sake of only one cultural experience, TCM may be preferable due to its simple applicability and cost efficiency. If, however, as is most often the case, a cultural experience is part of a bundle of experiences, the application of CVM is recommendable. This is also the case, if only visitors who state the cultural experience to be the primary reason for travelling are included.
The present study focuses on small urban public parks, specifically on how they should be designed to promote a potential for psychological restoration and on what activities people could imagine doing in such parks. Students from Oslo University College were presented with visual stimuli depicting 74 small urban parks. They were asked to assess how likely it was that they could rest and recover in the parks presented in the photos. In addition, the participants were asked to write down what park components contributed to high versus low ratings on restoration likelihood, and what types of activities they could imagine doing in the parks presented in the photos. The components and activities the participants mentioned were grouped into categories describing similar properties. The categories mentioned most frequently and giving high ratings on restoration likelihood represented natural categories such as: ‘a lot of grass’, ‘a lot of flowers/plants’ and ‘water features’. In contrast, the categories contributing to low ratings on restoration likelihood represented lack of vegetation or disturbance from the surroundings such as: ‘a lot of hard surfaces’, ‘a lot of traffic’ and ‘poorly shielded from the surroundings’. The activities mentioned as being typically performed in the types of parks presented in the photos were ‘relax and philosophize’, ‘read’ and ‘eat/drink’. Conclusions drawn from the study: Small urban parks should be designed with natural components, shielded from disturbing surroundings and furnished with some seating to promote opportunities for restorative experiences and to function as social meeting places.
To decide on the policy measures to be implemented, policymakers need comprehensive information on the costs and benefits of land conversion for society. Accordingly, the EU Biodiversity Strategy requires the member countries to assess their ecosystems and the economic value of their ecosystem services by 2020. This paper takes up and extends the subjective well-being approach to valuing changes in natural land cover, which provides information on willingness-to-pay for landscape amenities such as scenic views or recreational opportunities. Results at the NUTS 2 level for European countries indicate (a) that marginal willingness-to-pay estimates tend to be higher for natural areas that are scarcer, and (b) that a nonlinear relationship between land cover and well-being is preferred to a linear relationship indicating decreasing benefits from individual landscape amenities.
The present study investigated the physiological and psychological effects of viewing urban forest landscapes on 48 young male urban residents. Four forested areas and four urban areas located in central and western Japan were used as the test sites. We found that in the forested areas, the subjects exhibited (i) significantly lower diastolic blood pressure, (ii) significantly higher parasympathetic nervous activity, but significantly lower sympathetic nervous activity, and (iii) significantly lower heart rate. The forest landscapes (iv) obtained better scores in subjective ratings, and (v) induced significantly less negative and more vigorous moods. Taken as whole, these findings suggest that even a short-term viewing of forests has relaxing effects. We have thus concluded that the approach taken in this study is useful in exploring the influences of urban green space on humans, as well as contributing to the planning and design of a healthy environment for urban residents.
The author is concerned with the general "formulation' of the problem of environmental evaluation. The contemporary literature on resource allocation is deeply influenced by our understanding and use of the market mechanism, and the concepts and techniques that are invoked tend to reflect this preoccupation. The basic question that is raised by such a market-oriented approach is whether this view of the individual as an operator in a market best captures the problems of environmental evaluation. An alternative view is to see the individual as a citizen - an agent who judges the alternatives from a social perspective which includes her own well-being but also, quite possibly, many other considerations. The author attempts to discuss this contrast by considering some of the actual methods of environmental evaluation that are practised or have been proposed for practice, which makes extensive use - explicitly or by implication - of the analogy with markets. It concentrates on the increasingly discussed technique of "contingent valuation' and then goes on to examine the intertemporal optimization problem dealing with global warming. The conceptual perspective of people as citizens is provided by the structure of social choice theory. -from Author
We investigated the species composition of a fragmented forest in Nishinomiya Shrine, southeastern Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.
Two escaped ornamental species, Trachycarpus fortunei and Ligustrum lucidum, and bird-dispersed deciduous trees were invading the evergreen broadleaf forest. Invasive and bird-dispersed deciduous species
were most abundant along the outer edge of the forest. In 2005, restoration measures were taken to remove all individuals
of T. fortunei from the forest. We estimated that, biomass density and leaf area index (LAI, leaf area per unit ground area) of T. fortunei were 0.23kg m−2 and 0.77, respectively, which accounted for 8.9% and 27.9% of the biomass density and LAI, respectively, of the entire forest.
After removal, canopy openness increased in the understory. However, the understory lacked seedlings and saplings of native
species, indicating that active re-vegetation may be needed to accelerate reestablishment of native species in areas that
were heavily invaded by T. fortunei. This study represents one of the first examples of active vegetation management in shrine/temple forests in Japan.
In Japan, forests associated with shrines and temples are recognized as important components of urban green space, which can potentially function as centers for ecosystem conservation in rapidly urbanizing Japanese cities. In addition to their ecological value, shrine/temple forests have social value, providing recreational and aesthetic needs to residents of urban areas. We review the historical development of shrine/temple forests in Japan and discuss current conservation issues from both ecological and sociological perspectives. Generally, shrine forests are minimally managed and public access is discouraged, whereas temple forests are intensively managed for public display. Shrines tend to be spatially scattered across the landscape but associated with specific geographical features, whereas temples tend to be clustered. Their wide and random distribution in urban areas suggests that shrine forests can potentially be used as stepping stones in the urban green space network, whereas spatially clustered temple forests can be integrated to form large areas of green space. Species diversity of shrine/temple forests declines with decreasing area. The distribution pattern of species is not completely nested, indicating that although conservation of large forest fragments may be effective for maintaining landscape-level biodiversity, smaller forest fragments and adjacent precincts are sometimes significant because rare species occasionally inhabit them. Active management and ecological restoration, such as removal of invasive species, are also important to maintain the desirable near-natural forest conditions. A working group including the owner, community, regional government, and ecologists should be involved in creating an effective, long-term management plan. Because social and cultural values are diverse, basic ecological studies of shrine/temple forests would contribute a scientific basis that fosters public confidence in the process.
Previous studies have reported mixed findings on the associations between neighbourhood greenness and physical activity. This may be because different methods employed in these studies to measure greenness capture different aspects of greenness. This study examined agreement between perceived greenness of neighbourhoods and an objective measure of greenness using a normalised vegetation index (NDVI). A mail survey collected data on perceived greenness from adults (N = 94) living in Warrnambool, Australia. Participants to the study were randomly selected from areas classified as ‘high’ or ‘low’ greenness, based on satellite imagery data using a mean NDVI value calculated from a 400 m buffer around each respondent's address. Results indicate that there was a lack of agreement between the perceived and objective measures of greenness, suggesting that these measures are capturing different aspects of neighbourhood greenness.
This study examined neighborhood satisfaction in relation to naturalness and openness. It used Geographic Information System (GIS) and Landsat satellite imagery to physically measure the environmental attributes. Through path analysis it examined the relationship among the attributes, resident ratings of those environmental attributes, their satisfaction with them, and their overall neighborhood satisfaction (n = 725). We expected overall neighborhood satisfaction to relate to the resident's ratings of the environmental attributes and to the physical measures of them. The path model showed that overall neighborhood satisfaction was associated directly with the physical measure of building density and indirectly with the physical measure of vegetation rate through perception and evaluation of them. The perceptions and evaluations of the attributes related to one another. With refinements, GIS and Landsat data geo-related to survey data can offer a powerful tool for understanding the complex nature of neighborhood satisfaction and behavior.
This paper explores the relationship between pollution and reported subjective well-being (happiness) in ten European countries. Using a set of panel data from happiness surveys, jointly with data on income and air pollution, it examines how self-reported well-being varies with prosperity and environmental conditions and calculates the implied valuation of changes in air pollution. The paper finds that air pollution plays a statistically significant role as a predictor of inter-country and inter-temporal differences in subjective well-being. The effect of air pollution on well-being translates into a considerable monetary value of improved air quality. The improvements achieved in Western Europe in the 1990s are valued at about $750 per capita per year in the case of nitrogen dioxide and about $1400 per capita per year in the case of lead. Due to synergies among the pollutants, the value of simultaneously reducing nitrogen dioxide and lead is slightly higher than the sum of these values.
This paper argues that life satisfaction data can be used to value natural disasters. We discuss the strengths of this approach, compare it to traditional methods and apply it to estimate and monetize utility losses caused by floods in 16 European countries between 1973 and 1998. Using combined cross-section and time-series data, we find a negative impact of floods on life satisfaction that is sizeable, robust and significant. The estimates are comparable to price discounts found in housing markets. In an exploratory analysis, we find that risk transfer mechanisms such as mandatory insurance have large mitigating effects.
To provide scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of forest bathing as a natural therapy by investigating its physiological benefits using biological indicators in outdoor settings.
Within-group comparisons were used to examine psychological and physiological responses to exposure to real forest and urban environments.
Young Japanese male adults participated in a 3-day, 2-night field experiment. Physiological responses as well as self-reported psychological responses to forest and urban environmental stimuli were measured in real settings. The results of each indicator were compared against each environmental stimulus.
Heart rate variability analysis indicated that the forest environment significantly increased parasympathetic nervous activity and significantly suppressed sympathetic activity of participants compared with the urban environment. Salivary cortisol level and pulse rate decreased markedly in the forest setting compared with the urban setting. In psychological tests, forest bathing significantly increased scores of positive feelings and significantly decreased scores of negative feelings after stimuli compared with the urban stimuli.
Physiological data from this field experiment provide important scientific evidence on the health benefits of forest bathing. The results support the concept that forest bathing has positive effects on physical and mental health, indicating that it can be effective for health promotion. Despite the small sample size in this study, a very clear tendency towards positive physiological and psychological outcomes in forests was observed.
In many countries environmental policies and regulations are implemented to improve environmental quality and thus individuals’ well-being. However, how do individuals value
the environment? In this paper, we review the Life Satisfaction Approach (LSA) representing a new non-market valuation technique. The LSA builds on the recent development of subjective well-being research in economics and takes measures of reported life satisfaction as an empirical approximation to individual welfare. Micro-econometric life satisfaction functions are estimated taking into account environmental conditions along with income and other covariates. The estimated coefficients for the environmental good and income can then be used to calculate the implicit willingness-to-pay for the environmental good.
I use the life satisfaction approach to value air quality, combining individual-level panel and high-resolution SO<sub>2</sub> data. To avoid simultaneity problems, I construct a novel instrument exploiting the natural experiment created by the mandated scrubber installation at power plants, with wind directions dividing counties into treatment and control groups. I find a negative effect of pollution on well-being that is larger for instrumental variable than conventional estimates, robust to controls for local unemployment, particulate pollution, reunification effects and rural/urban trends, and larger for environmentalists and predicted risk groups. To calculate total willingness-to-pay, the estimates are supplemented by hedonic housing regressions. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2009.
We assess the monetary value of the noise damage, caused by aircraft noise nuisance around Amsterdam Airport, as the sum of hedonic house price differentials and a residual cost component. The residual costs are assessed from a survey, including an ordinal life satisfaction scale, on which individual respondents have scored. The derived compensation scheme depends on, among other things, the objective noise level, income, the degree to which prices account for noise differences, and the presence of noise insulation. Copyright 2005 Royal Economic Society.
Corruption in the public sector erodes tax compliance and leads to higher tax evasion. Moreover, corrupt public officials abuse their public power to extort bribes from the private agents. In both types of interaction with the public sector, the private agents are bound to face uncertainty with respect to their disposable incomes. To analyse effects of this uncertainty, a stochastic dynamic growth model with the public sector is examined. It is shown that deterministic excessive red tape and corruption deteriorate the growth potential through income redistribution and public sector inefficiencies. Most importantly, it is demonstrated that the increase in corruption via higher uncertainty exerts adverse effects on capital accumulation, thus leading to lower growth rates.
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Identifying features of pocket parks that may be related to health promoting use
- K K Peschardt
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- J Schipperrijn
Peschardt, K.K., Stigsdotter, U.K., Schipperrijn, J., 2016. Identifying features of pocket
parks that may be related to health promoting use. Landsc. Res. 41 (1), 79-94.