Economic valuation of urban green infrastructure. Principles and evidence

Journal title ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Author/s Maria Beatrice Andreucci
Publishing Year 2019 Issue 2018/2
Language English Pages 22 P. 63-84 File size 1258 KB
DOI 10.3280/EFE2018-002004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In urban areas, the elements of the natural environment providing multi-functional ecosystem services are referred to as green infrastructure, into the perspective of leisure, education, health and well-being, reconnection to biodiversity, cultural and heritage landscapes, resilience-building. Numerous tools have been developed to explore multiple benefits of green infrastructure, adapting methodologies and designing new frameworks, especially in the emerging research area of the landscape economy. The contribution focuses on the relevance of the socio-economic values of cultural ecosystem services provided by urban green infrastructure, which are increasingly calling researchers, policy makers and practitioners’ attention from new perspectives, mirroring the needs and claims of the growing population of urban dwellers. The often-conflicting socio-economic implications of the urban green infrastructure are presented, introducing major findings of an extensive repository of international case studies. The conclusions suggest how a better understanding of urban green infrastructure’s economic values would enable decision makers to successfully engage in trade-off analysis, promoting dialogue among stakeholders, ultimately helping them identify strategies for improved governance.

Keywords: Economic valuation of ecosystem services; landscape economy; urban green infrastructure.

Jel codes: Q01, Q10, Q20, Q30, Q51, Q56, Q57

  1. Klain, S.C., Chan, K.M.A. (2012). Navigating coastal values: participatory mapping of ecosystem services for spatial planning. Ecological Economics, 82, 104-113.
  2. AMION (2008). The Economic Benefits of Green Infrastructure – an Assessment Framework for the NWDA. Liverpool: AMION Consulting.
  3. Andreucci, M.B. (2013). “Intervento al Convegno Nazionale AIAPP Riflessioni per un’economia del Paesaggio. Position Paper AIAPP Associazione Italiana di Architettura del Paesaggio”, Macro Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Roma, 13 Dicembre.
  4. Andreucci, M.B. (2015). Green Infrastructure Fondamenti Teorici, Evidenze, Valori e Strumenti per la Resilienza Urbana. PhD thesis in Environmental Design, “Sapienza” University of Rome, ‘Planning Design Technology of Architecture’ Department, Rome.
  5. Andreucci, M.B. (2017). Progettare Green Infrastructure Green Infrastructure Design. Milan (IT): Wolters Kluwer Italia.
  6. Andreucci, M.B., Coccolo, S., Theochari, D., Naboni ,M. (2018). Adaptive design through nature-based technologies and solutions: an innovative process characterising urban regeneration UNISCAPE – European Network of University for the Implementation of the Landscape Convention, International Conference “Healthy Landscapes: Green, Regeneration, Safety”, Session Vi: “Urban Planning And Health”, Book of Extended Abstracts, Bologna, 189-193.
  7. Annerstedt van den Bosch, M., Östergren, P.O., Grahn, P., Skärbäck, E., Währborg, P. (2015). Moving to serene nature may prevent poor mental health – results from a Swedish longitudinal cohort study. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 12(7): 7974.
  8. Barbier, E.B. (2007). Valuing ecosystem services as productive inputs. Econ Policy, 22: 177-229.
  9. Bateman, I.J., Mace, G.M., Fezzi, C., Atkinson, G., Turner, K. (2010). Economic Analysis for Ecosystem Service Assessments. Environ Resource Econ.
  10. Berman, M., Jonides, J., Kaplan, S. (2008). The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting with Nature. Psychological Science, 19(12): 1207-1212.
  11. Bliss, L. (2017). The High Line’s Next Balancing Act, CITYLAB. Accessed February 7 2017. -- https://www.citylab.com/solutions/2017/02/the-high-lines-next-balancing-act-fair-and-affordable-development/515391/.
  12. Brander, M.L., Koetse, M.J. (2011). The value of urban open space: Meta-analyses of contingent valuation and hedonic pricing results. Journal of Environmental Management, 92: 2763-2773.
  13. Brown, G., Donovan, S. (2013). Measuring Change in Place Values for Environmental and Natural Resource Planning Using Public Participation GIS (PPGIS): Results and Challenges for Longitudinal Research. Society & Natural Resources, 27(1): 36-54. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2013.840023
  14. Brown, G., Kelly, M., Whitall, D. (2014a). Which “public”? Sampling effects in public participation GIS (PPGIS) and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) systems for public lands management, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 57: 190-214. DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2012.741045
  15. Brown, G., Fagerholm, N. (2015). Empirical PPGIS/ PGIS mapping of ecosystem services: a review and evaluation. Ecosystem Services, 5: 119-133.
  16. CABE Space (2010). Urban Green Nation: Building the evidence base, London: Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Accessed September 10th 2017. -- https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/urban-green-nation_0_0.pdf.
  17. Chan, K.M.A., Satterfield, T., Goldstein, J. (2012). Rethinking ecosystem services to better address and navigate cultural values. Ecological Economics, 74: 8-18.
  18. CICES (2013). Towards a Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. Accessed September 11th 2017. -- https://cices.eu/.
  19. City of Chicago (2012). Sustainable Chicago 2015 Action Plan, Chicago: City of Chicago. Accessed August 15th 2016. -- https://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/progs/env/SustainableChicago2015.pdf.
  20. Cmap (2010). GO to 2040, Chicago: City of Chicago. Accessed August 15th 2016. -- http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/about/2040.
  21. Cooper, P.J.M., Dimes, J., Rao, K.P.C., Shapiro, B., Shiferaw, B., Twomlow, S. (2008). Coping better with current climatic variability in the rain-fed farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa: An essential first step in adapting to future climate change? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 126: 24-35.
  22. Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., de Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O’Neil, R.V., Paruelo, J., Raskin, R.G., Sutton, P., van den Belt, M. (1997). The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387: 253-260. --https://www.nature.com/articles/387253a0.
  23. Daily, G.C., Alexander, S., Ehrlich, P.R., Goulder, L., Lubchenco, L., Matson, P.A., Mooney, H.A., Postel, S., Schneider, S.H., Tilman, D., Woodwell, G.M. (1997). Ecosystem services: Benefits supplied to human societies by natural ecosystems. Issues in Ecology, 2: 1-16. -- https://www.esa.org/esa/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/issue2.pdf.
  24. Danish Trade Council (2002). The new Øresund Region 2001; Focus Denmark Business and Investment News, June 2002.
  25. de Chazal, J., Quétier, F., Lavorel, S., Van Doorn, A. (2008). Including multiple differing stakeholder values into vulnerability assessments of socio-ecological systems. Global Environmental Change, 18: 508-520.
  26. de Groot, R., Wilson, M., Boumans, R. (2002). A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological economics, 41: 393-408. DOI: 10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00089-7
  27. Defra (2011). The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature. Accessed April 20th 2017. --https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228842/8082.pdf.
  28. Deloitte (2009). A Mini-Stern for Manchester, Manchester, Deloitte. Accessed April 20th 2017. -- https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/impact-report-2017/articles/manchesterplanning.html.
  29. Duffy A., Jefferies C., Waddell G., Shanks G., Blackwood D., Watkins A. (2008). A Cost Comparison of Traditional Drainage and SUDS in Scotland. Water Science and Technology, 57(9): 1451-1459.
  30. Ecotec (2003). The Economic Impact of the Restoration of the Kennet & Avon Canal, London: Ecotec. Accessed April 15th 2017. -- https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/8009-kennet-and-avon.pdf.
  31. Ecotec (2008). The economic benefits of green infrastructure: the public and business case for investing in Green Infrastructure and a review of the underpinning evidence, Warrington: Natural Economy Northwest. Accessed April 14th 2017. -- https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/nweeconomicbenefitsofgiinvestigating.pdf/$FILE/nweeconomicbenefitsofgiinvestigating.pdf.
  32. Eftec (2013). Green Infrastructure’s contribution to economic growth: a review, Sheffield: Hallam University. Accessed April 14th 2017. -- http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=19056.
  33. Ernst and Young (2003). How Smart Parks Investment Pays Its Way, New York: New Yorkers for Parks. Accessed October 24th 2017. -- https://conservationtools.org/library_items/1064-How-Smart-Parks-Investment-Pays-Its-Way.
  34. Gascó-Hernandez, M. (2018). Building a Green City. Lessons from Barcelona. Communications of the ACM, April 2018, 61, 4: 50-57. Accessed March 15th 2018. DOI: 10.1145/3117800
  35. Gavaldà, J., Ribera, R. (2012). Barcelona, 5.0: From Knowledge to Smartness? Working Paper Series, WP12-002. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Accessed April 20th 2018. -- http://in3-working-paper-series.uoc.edu/in3/en/index.php/in3-working-paper-series/article/download/1590/1590-4557-1-PB.pdf.
  36. Gill, S.E., Handley, J.F., Ennos, A.R., Pauleit, S. (2007). Adapting cities for climate change: The role of green infrastructure. Climate Change and Cities, 33, 1: 115-133. Accessed November 20th 2017. -- https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/sites/default/files/Gill_Adapting_Cities.pdf.
  37. Gómez-Baggethun, E., de Groot, R. (2010). Natural capital and ecosystem services: The ecological foundation of human society. Ecosystem services: Issues in environmental science and technology, 30: 118-145. DOI: 10.5772/24633
  38. Grahn, P., Stigsdottir, U. (2003). Landscape planning and stress. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 2, 1: 1-18.
  39. Halpern, D. (1995). Mental Health and the Built Environment. London: Taylor and Francis.
  40. Hawken, P., Lovins, A.B., Lovins, L.H. (1999). Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Boston: Little, Brown & Company.
  41. Health Council of the Netherlands (2004). Nature and Health: The influence of nature on social, psychological and physical well-being, The Hague: Health Council of the Netherlands and RMNO. Accessed November 20th 2017. -- https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/en/task-and-procedure/areas-of-activity/environmental-health/nature-andhealth-the-influence-of-nature.
  42. Holgersen, S. (2014). The Rise (and Fall?) of Post-Industrial Malmö. Investigations of citycrisis dialectics. Lund: Lund University.
  43. Howe, C., Suich, H., Vira, B., Mace, G.M. (2014). Creating win-wins from trade-offs? Ecosystem services for human well-being: a meta analysis of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in the real world. Global Environmental Change, 28: 263-275.
  44. Kahlmeier, S., Cavill, N., Dinsdale, H., Rutter, H., Götschi, T., Foster, C., Kelly, P., Clarke, D., Oja, P., Fordham, R., Stone, D., Racioppi, F. (2011). Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling: Methodology and user guide, Copenhagen: World Health Organisation. Accessed April 20th 2018. -- http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/2572594/1/ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT-OF-TRANSPORT-INFRASTRUCTURE-AND-POLICIES.pdf.
  45. Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature: a Psychological Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  46. Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16: 169-182. DOI: 10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
  47. Kolzac, A. (2017). This City Aims to Be the World’s Greenest, Urban Innovator, February 28th 2017. Accessed September 3rd 2018. -- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/urban-expeditions/green-buildings/green-urban-landscape-cities-Singapore/.
  48. Kumar, P. (2010). The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: ecological and economic foundations. UNEP/Earthprint.
  49. Largo-Wright, E., Chen, W., Dodd, V., Weiler, R. (2011). Healthy Workplaces: The Effects of Nature Contact at Work on Employee Stress and Health. Public Health Reports, 126(1): 124-130. DOI: 10.1177/00333549111260S116
  50. Leitmann, J. (2000). Integrating the Environment in Urban Development: Singapore as a Model of Good Practice, Washington, DC (USA): World Bank Urban Development Division. Accessed November 12th 2017. -- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255596553_Integrating_the_Environment_in_Urban_Development_Singapore_as_a_Model_of_Good_Practice.
  51. McDonogh, G. (2011). Learning from Barcelona: Discourse, Power and Praxis in the Sustainable City. City and Society, 23(2): 135-153.
  52. Menzel, S., Tengel, J. (2010). Ecosystem services as a stakeholder-driven concept for conservation science. Conservation Biology, 24, 907-909.
  53. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Washington (DC): Island Press. -- http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.356.aspx.pdf.
  54. Munarin, S., Tosi, M. (2011). Spazi del Welfare. Esperienze, luoghi, pratiche. Macerata: Quodlibet.
  55. Noonan, D.S. (2003). Contingent valuation and cultural resources: a meta-analytic review of literature. Journal of Cultural Economics, 27, 3-4: 159-176. DOI: 10.1023/A:1026371110799
  56. North West Green Infrastructure Unit (2010). Green Infrastructure Prospectus V6. Accessed May, 12th 2017. -- http://www.greeninfrastructurenw.co.uk/resources/Prospectus_V6.pdf.
  57. Norton, B.G., (2005). Sustainability. A philosophy of adaptive ecosystem management. Chicago, IL, and London: The University of Chicago Press.
  58. Patton, M.Q. (2001). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
  59. Pearce D. (2002). An Intellectual History of Environmental Economics. Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 27: 57-81.
  60. Phillips, P. (2000). Real Estate Impacts of Urban Parks, Issue Paper. Los Angeles: Economic Research Associates.
  61. Pietilä, M.K., Demina, T.A., Atanasova, N.S., Oksanen, J.M., Bamford, D.H. (2014). Archaeal viruses and bacteriophages: comparisons and contrasts. Trends Microbiol. [Epub ahead of print].
  62. Reynaud, A., Panzanova, D. (2017). A Global Meta-Analysis of the Value of Ecosystem Services Provided by Lakes. Ecological Economics, 137: 184-194.
  63. Rhode, C.L.E., Kendle, A.D. (1994). Human well-being, natural landscapes and wildlife in urban areas. A review. Peterborough: English Nature. Accessed September 15th 2015. --http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/2320898.
  64. Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, Å., Chapin, F.S. III, Lambin, E.F., Lenton, T.M., Scheffer, M., Folke, C., Schellnhuber, H.J., Nykvist, B., de Wit, C.A., Hughes, T., van der Leeuw, S., Rodhe, H., Sörlin, S., Snyder, P.K., Costanza, R., Svedin, U., Falkenmark, M., Karlberg, L., Corell, R.W., Fabry, V.J., Hansen, J., Walker, B., Liverman, D., Richardson, K., Crutzen, P. and Foley, J.A. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461: 472-475.
  65. Shaikh, S. (2011). The Economic Impact of Urban Green Space Investments: A Case Study for Chicago, presented to Strengthening the Green Foundation Conference. March 20th.
  66. Shamai, S. (1991). Sense of place: An empirical measurement. Geoforum, 22(3): 347-358. DOI: 10.1016/0016-7185(91)90017-K
  67. Sutton, P.C., Anderson, S.J. (2016). Holistic valuation of urban ecosystem services in New York City’s Central Park. Ecosystem Services, 19: 87-91.
  68. Taylor, A.F., Kuo, M., Sullivan, W.C. (2001). Coping with ADD. The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings. Environment and Behavior, 33(1): 54-77. DOI: 10.1177/00139160121972864
  69. Taylor, A.F., Kuo, M. (2004). Children With Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park. Journal of Attention Disorders, 12(5): 402-9. DOI: 10.1177/1087054708323000
  70. TEEB (2010). The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity. Ecological and Economic Foundations. London and Washington: Earthscan.
  71. Ulrich, R. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224: 420.
  72. Ulrich, R., Simons, R., Losito, B., Fiorito, E., Miles, M., Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(3): 201-230. DOI: 10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7
  73. van den Berg, A.E., Hartig, T., Staats, H. (2007). Preference for Nature in Urbanized Societies: Stress, Restoration, and the Pursuit of Sustainability. Journal of Social Issues, 63(1): 79-96.
  74. Williams, D.R., Roggenbuck, J.W. (1989). Measuring place attachment: Some preliminary results. Blacksburg: Department of Forestry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University.
  75. Yuen, B. (1996). Creating the Garden City: The Singapore Experience. Urban Studies, 33(6): 955-970. DOI: 10.1080/00420989650011681

  • Nature-Based Solutions and Circularity in Cities Nataša Atanasova, Joana A.C. Castellar, Rocío Pineda-Martos, Chrysanthy Elisabeth Nika, Evina Katsou, Darja Istenič, Bernhard Pucher, Maria Beatrice Andreucci, Guenter Langergraber, in Circular Economy and Sustainability /2021 pp.319
    DOI: 10.1007/s43615-021-00024-1

Maria Beatrice Andreucci, Economic valuation of urban green infrastructure. Principles and evidence in "ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT" 2/2018, pp 63-84, DOI: 10.3280/EFE2018-002004