America's North Coast: A Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Program to Protect and Restore the Great Lakes

Examines the baseline ecological conditions of the Great Lakes and offers a plan for the area's environmental protection and restoration. Demonstrates how a restoration program can provide economic benefits that substantially exceed its costs

Relating urban forests and urban tourism: Exploring people\u27s perceptions, preferences and movement in Washington DC

Exploring the connection between urban forests and urban tourism has not been given much attention in recent investigative efforts. This study is designed to describe, explore and explain the specific elements where these two fields converge. There is no better vehicle to do this than by eliciting data from people, who are collectively, the beneficiaries and clientele of these entities. Therefore, a face-to-face survey, spanning one year, collected data on people\u27s perception, preferences, movement, demographics and trip background in a popular and busy city destination: Washington DC.;Data collection yielded 1,146 completed questionnaires out of 3,210 respondents who participated which sets the response rate at 35.7%. Results are subdivided into sections and in terms of preferences the findings revealed that the respondents regard urban forests are at par with the other major attractions of the city with regards to its relative importance. The respondents regarded that season is the most important factor that influences their timing of visit to Washington DC. Sub-groups of the respondents who are more familiar with the city such as repeat visitors and residents have more variety in terms of the attractions that they tend to enjoy. Despite being aware of urban forest attractions, only residents and the visitors who accompany them are the ones that are exposed and are able to visit these attractions proving that urban forests continue to be an underutilized resource in the tourism status of the city.;With regards to the preferences of the respondents on specific urban forest attributes, they expressed their tendency to prefer urban forests that are composed of at least trees and grass; those that are planted throughout the city having a verdant quality with many other colors, and are trimmed. Furthermore, they expressed that plant variety, planting pattern, color variety and growth form are important attributes that influence their preferences. Insights given by the respondents in the study indicate that people, in general, are aware of the natural landscape of the city and not just the built landscape. Consequently, maintenance activities should be guided by these findings in response to the people\u27s feedback.;Another aspect of this study is looking at the perception of the respondents on urban forests. Observations based on the data revealed that respondents\u27 knowledge on the uses of urban forests (i.e. parks, gardens and street trees) positively influence their leisure experience and has a fairly acceptable influence on their satisfaction and loyalty to the city. This confirms the level of awareness that the respondents harbor concerning the importance of urban forests in their experiences in the city. It can be deduced that people who know more about the uses and the role that urban forests play in the urban ecosystem tend to have a more positive leisure experience while in the city, and therefore tend to be more satisfied and loyal to it.;Lastly, the behavior of the respondents was explored by looking into their mobility, concentration and spatial movement. After these variables were described and defined, study results showed that most respondents congregate at the National Mall and its vicinity because the most popular attractions are clustered there. As the respondents were subdivided, various sub-groups exhibited differences in their movement patterns which also differed based on the season when they visited. In relation to urban forests, a potential to disperse the concentration of people visiting the city is feasible by promoting visitation to urban forests that are currently regarded as less popular attractions. Some examples of such attractions are the National Zoo, Rock Creek Park, the National arboretum and the Kenilworth aquatic gardens. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Measuring Ecosystem Service Benefits: The Use of Landscape Analysis to Evaluate Environmental Trades and Compensation

Ecosystem compensation and exchange programs require benefit analysis in order to guarantee that compensation or trades preserve the social benefits lost when ecosystems are destroyed or degraded. This study derives, applies, and critiques a set of ecosystem benefits indicators (EBIs). Organized around the concept of ecosystem services and basic valuation principles we show how GIS mappings of the physical and social landscape can improve understanding of the ecosystem benefits arising from specific ecosystems. The indicator system focuses on landscape factors that limit or enhance an ecosystem's ability to provide services and that limit or enhance the expected value of those services. The analysis yields an organized, descriptive, and numerical depiction of sites involved in specific mitigation projects. Indicator-based evaluations are applied to existing wetland mitigation projects in Florida and Maryland in order to practically illustrate the virtues and limits of the approach.Ecosystem Valuation, Wetlands, Spatial Analysis, Landscape Analysis

Contingent Valuation of Environmental Goods: A Comprehensive Critique

Contingent valuation is a survey-based procedure that attempts to estimate how much households are willing to pay for specific programs that improve the environment or prevent environmental degradation. For decades, the method has been the center of debate regarding its reliability: does it really measure the value that people place on environmental changes? Bringing together leading voices in the field, this timely book tells a unified story about the interrelated features of contingent valuation and how those features affect its reliability. Through empirical analysis and review of past studies, the authors identify important deficiencies in the procedure, raising questions about the technique’s continued use

Integrated Urban River Corridors

The issue of urban resilience concerns a multitude of urban systems and spaces. This thesis focuses on Urban River Corridors (URCs)—that is, urban spaces where the overlap between the urban systems (carrying the ’social-‘) and the river system (carrying the ‘-ecological’) is at the highest intensity—as strategic spaces with a potentially high contribution to urban resilience. The general hypothesis is that with an integrated spatial understanding, planning and design of rivers and the urban fabric surrounding them, cities could become more resilient not just to flood-related disturbances, but to general chronic stresses as well. Hence, the thesis addresses four spatial problems arising from the loss of synergy between the natural dynamics of rivers and the spatial configuration and composition of urban areas that they cross: (1) river-taming operations combined with riverside traffic corridors have weakened the relationship between fluvial geomorphology and urban morphology, transforming rivers into physical barriers; (2) flood-protection measures aiming for resistance to water dynamics have led to a latent flood risk; (3) the capacity of urban rivers to deliver ecosystem services has been diminished; and (4) rationalisations of the river system have reduced the scalar, (and implicitly) social and ecological complexity of urban rivers. Drawing on theories of social-ecological resilience and urban form resilience, on conceptual and analytical tools from spatial morphology and landscape ecology, and on practical experience in urban river design projects, the thesis constructs a theory of social-ecologically integrated Urban River Corridors, in which it proposes a spatial-morphological definition, an assessment framework, and a set of design principles and design instruments. Framed as a transdisciplinary design study, the thesis integrates knowledge from various disciplines dealing with the problematique of urban rivers and employs a design-driven methodology that includes design explorations and design testing in the research process. The case of Bucharest crossed by URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina is used to contextualise the spatial-morphological definition, and to demonstrate, develop and test the proposed assessment framework, design principles, and design instruments with a distinct set of methods in each of the three parts of the thesis. In addition to a transdisciplinary literature review of URCs, and a historical review of Bucharest’s URCs, Part 1 presents a qualitative data analysis of 22 expert interviews, used to determine the current state of URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina. Based on four key properties of URCs identified in the literature, Part 2 develops an indicator system and a method for the assessment of social-ecological integration. Informed by key problems and potentials identified by the local experts, the assessment framework is then applied on the two URCs of Bucharest. In the last part, design applications, including urban river projects carried out by the author on other rivers and a design workshop in Bucharest, are used to demonstrate and test the design principles through design instruments

Integrated Urban River Corridors:

This thesis focuses on Urban River Corridors (URCs) as spaces of social-ecological integration par excellence—that is, spaces where the interaction between the urban systems (carrying the ‘social-’) and the river system (carrying the ‘-ecological’) is (potentially) the most intense. The general hypothesis is that with an integrated spatial understanding, planning and design of rivers and the urban fabric surrounding them, cities could become more resilient, not just to flood-related disturbances, but to general chronic stresses as well. Hence, the thesis addresses a number of spatial problems arising from the loss of synergy between the natural dynamics of rivers and the spatial configuration and composition of urban areas that they cross, namely: the relationship between fluvial geomorphology and urban morphology weakened by river-taming operations; the physical barrier caused by riverside vehicular traffic; the latent flood risk built up through resistance-based flood-protection measures; the diminished capacity of urban rivers to provide ecosystem services; and the reduced scalar, (and implicitly) social and ecological complexity of urban rivers after rationalisation. Drawing on theories of social-ecological resilience and urban form resilience, on conceptual and analytical tools from the fields of spatial morphology and landscape ecology, and on explorations through urban river design projects, the thesis departs from the research question “How can social-ecological integration be spatially defined, assessed and designed in Urban River Corridors?” Accordingly, it constructs a theory of social-ecologically integrated Urban River Corridors, in which it proposes a spatial-morphological definition, an assessment framework, and a set of design principles and design instruments. These three components of the theory represent the descriptive, analytical, and normative claims advanced in the research, respectively. The thesis employs a mixed methods research strategy that combines methods of both quantitative and qualitative nature as part of a transdisciplinary design study approach. As the object of the design study, the case of Bucharest crossed by URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina is used to contextualise the spatial-morphological definition, and to demonstrate, develop and test the proposed assessment framework and design principles, with a distinct set of methods in each of the three parts of the thesis. The first part places URCs in a wider theoretical and empirical context. A transdisciplinary literature review is carried out to distil environmental-ecological, social-economic, planning-governance and spatial-morphological knowledge into four key properties of URCs—connectivity, open space amenity, integration and multiscalarity—and to adopt a method of URC delineation. A historical overview of Bucharest’s URCs and a qualitative data analysis of 22 expert interviews is conducted to describe the past dynamics and the current state of URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina. The history of the two rivers shows a process of radical transformation from a flooding and dynamic river valley to a canalised stream and cramped urban space (River Dâmbovița) and from a pestilential wetland to a succession of lakes and parks designated as a metropolitan recreational area (River Colentina). In the expert interviews addressing the current state of the two URCs, Dâmbovița was described as inaccessible, disruptive, unattractive and artificial from both social and ecological point of view, but also, in terms of potentials, as a major axis of urban development and potentially the largest public space of the city. URC Colentina, as revealed in the analysis of the expert interviews, is currently inaccessible and fragmented by lakeside privatisation and it lacks cohesion due to contrasting social and spatial peripheral conditions. Yet, most experts considered that it is potentially the largest recreational space and green corridor in the metropolitan area of Bucharest. Based on the spatial-morphological definition of URCs and on existing approaches to assessing urban rivers, the second part of the thesis develops an assessment framework, that is, a structured indicator system and a method for the assessment of social-ecological integration. The indicator system is structured in a hierarchy of social and ecological categories under connectivity (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity) and spatial capacity (spatial diversity, quality and composition). The method of assessment confronts values given by indicators from corresponding categories (e.g. social lateral connectivity with ecological lateral connectivity) in a mirrored social-ecological assessment chart and highlights areas of potential for improved social-ecological integration on the scales of the corridor and the corridor segment. Informed by the key problems and potentials derived from the analysis of the expert interviews, a complete assessment is carried out on URC Dâmbovița and a demonstration of wider application is given on URC Colentina. Corridor-segment assessment shows that URC Dâmbovița currently has a high-to-medium longitudinal connectivity, medium-to-low lateral connectivity and low vertical connectivity, as well as a medium spatial diversity and quality, and a medium-to-high spatial composition. The social-ecological profile of URC Dâmbovița highlights potential improvements on the ecological dimension for centrally located corridor segments and a potential increase in spatial diversity and composition on the social dimension in peripheral segments. The application of the assessment framework to different site conditions is briefly demonstrated on URC Colentina with an indicator of street network accessibility (also used in the assessment of URC Dâmbovița) and green space coverage (specific to URC Colentina). Building on principles of urban and landscape design and informed by design explorations through four urban river projects carried out by the author, the last part of the thesis develops four design principles, namely Interconnectedness, Absorptive Capacity, Social-Ecological Integration, and Interscalarity, derived from the key properties specified in the spatial-morphological definition of URCs. Interconnectedness and Absorptive Capacity are principles that guide the design of elements found in the networks and open spaces of the URC, while Social-Ecological Integration and Interscalarity reveal systemic and scalar relations among those elements. Finally, the design principles are translated into four corresponding design instruments—the Connector, the Sponge, the Integrator and the Scaler—, meant to aid designers in building social-ecologically integrated URCs. A design workshop organised in Bucharest is employed to demonstrate and test the use of the design instruments in the design process and their impact on the design projects. The workshop participants evaluated the design instruments as overall useful and easy to use, but also gave valuable suggestions for improvements in their application in the design process. The thesis concludes with a reflection on theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the research. By drawing parallels between the spatial-morphological definition, assessment and design of URCs, on the one hand, and the spatial properties and models of social-ecological resilience, on the other hand, it argues that social-ecologically integrated URCs have a potentially positive impact on general urban resilience. This last part discusses challenges and opportunities of the transdisciplinary design study approach and the mixed methodology, gives possible usage scenarios for the assessment framework and design instruments, and reflects on the wider applicability of the research for urban and landscape design beyond the case of Bucharest.   &nbsp

Integrated Urban River Corridors:

This thesis focuses on Urban River Corridors (URCs) as spaces of social-ecological integration par excellence—that is, spaces where the interaction between the urban systems (carrying the ‘social-’) and the river system (carrying the ‘-ecological’) is (potentially) the most intense. The general hypothesis is that with an integrated spatial understanding, planning and design of rivers and the urban fabric surrounding them, cities could become more resilient, not just to flood-related disturbances, but to general chronic stresses as well. Hence, the thesis addresses a number of spatial problems arising from the loss of synergy between the natural dynamics of rivers and the spatial configuration and composition of urban areas that they cross, namely: the relationship between fluvial geomorphology and urban morphology weakened by river-taming operations; the physical barrier caused by riverside vehicular traffic; the latent flood risk built up through resistance-based flood-protection measures; the diminished capacity of urban rivers to provide ecosystem services; and the reduced scalar, (and implicitly) social and ecological complexity of urban rivers after rationalisation. Drawing on theories of social-ecological resilience and urban form resilience, on conceptual and analytical tools from the fields of spatial morphology and landscape ecology, and on explorations through urban river design projects, the thesis departs from the research question “How can social-ecological integration be spatially defined, assessed and designed in Urban River Corridors?” Accordingly, it constructs a theory of social-ecologically integrated Urban River Corridors, in which it proposes a spatial-morphological definition, an assessment framework, and a set of design principles and design instruments. These three components of the theory represent the descriptive, analytical, and normative claims advanced in the research, respectively. The thesis employs a mixed methods research strategy that combines methods of both quantitative and qualitative nature as part of a transdisciplinary design study approach. As the object of the design study, the case of Bucharest crossed by URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina is used to contextualise the spatial-morphological definition, and to demonstrate, develop and test the proposed assessment framework and design principles, with a distinct set of methods in each of the three parts of the thesis. The first part places URCs in a wider theoretical and empirical context. A transdisciplinary literature review is carried out to distil environmental-ecological, social-economic, planning-governance and spatial-morphological knowledge into four key properties of URCs—connectivity, open space amenity, integration and multiscalarity—and to adopt a method of URC delineation. A historical overview of Bucharest’s URCs and a qualitative data analysis of 22 expert interviews is conducted to describe the past dynamics and the current state of URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina. The history of the two rivers shows a process of radical transformation from a flooding and dynamic river valley to a canalised stream and cramped urban space (River Dâmbovița) and from a pestilential wetland to a succession of lakes and parks designated as a metropolitan recreational area (River Colentina). In the expert interviews addressing the current state of the two URCs, Dâmbovița was described as inaccessible, disruptive, unattractive and artificial from both social and ecological point of view, but also, in terms of potentials, as a major axis of urban development and potentially the largest public space of the city. URC Colentina, as revealed in the analysis of the expert interviews, is currently inaccessible and fragmented by lakeside privatisation and it lacks cohesion due to contrasting social and spatial peripheral conditions. Yet, most experts considered that it is potentially the largest recreational space and green corridor in the metropolitan area of Bucharest. Based on the spatial-morphological definition of URCs and on existing approaches to assessing urban rivers, the second part of the thesis develops an assessment framework, that is, a structured indicator system and a method for the assessment of social-ecological integration. The indicator system is structured in a hierarchy of social and ecological categories under connectivity (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical connectivity) and spatial capacity (spatial diversity, quality and composition). The method of assessment confronts values given by indicators from corresponding categories (e.g. social lateral connectivity with ecological lateral connectivity) in a mirrored social-ecological assessment chart and highlights areas of potential for improved social-ecological integration on the scales of the corridor and the corridor segment. Informed by the key problems and potentials derived from the analysis of the expert interviews, a complete assessment is carried out on URC Dâmbovița and a demonstration of wider application is given on URC Colentina. Corridor-segment assessment shows that URC Dâmbovița currently has a high-to-medium longitudinal connectivity, medium-to-low lateral connectivity and low vertical connectivity, as well as a medium spatial diversity and quality, and a medium-to-high spatial composition. The social-ecological profile of URC Dâmbovița highlights potential improvements on the ecological dimension for centrally located corridor segments and a potential increase in spatial diversity and composition on the social dimension in peripheral segments. The application of the assessment framework to different site conditions is briefly demonstrated on URC Colentina with an indicator of street network accessibility (also used in the assessment of URC Dâmbovița) and green space coverage (specific to URC Colentina). Building on principles of urban and landscape design and informed by design explorations through four urban river projects carried out by the author, the last part of the thesis develops four design principles, namely Interconnectedness, Absorptive Capacity, Social-Ecological Integration, and Interscalarity, derived from the key properties specified in the spatial-morphological definition of URCs. Interconnectedness and Absorptive Capacity are principles that guide the design of elements found in the networks and open spaces of the URC, while Social-Ecological Integration and Interscalarity reveal systemic and scalar relations among those elements. Finally, the design principles are translated into four corresponding design instruments—the Connector, the Sponge, the Integrator and the Scaler—, meant to aid designers in building social-ecologically integrated URCs. A design workshop organised in Bucharest is employed to demonstrate and test the use of the design instruments in the design process and their impact on the design projects. The workshop participants evaluated the design instruments as overall useful and easy to use, but also gave valuable suggestions for improvements in their application in the design process. The thesis concludes with a reflection on theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the research. By drawing parallels between the spatial-morphological definition, assessment and design of URCs, on the one hand, and the spatial properties and models of social-ecological resilience, on the other hand, it argues that social-ecologically integrated URCs have a potentially positive impact on general urban resilience. This last part discusses challenges and opportunities of the transdisciplinary design study approach and the mixed methodology, gives possible usage scenarios for the assessment framework and design instruments, and reflects on the wider applicability of the research for urban and landscape design beyond the case of Bucharest

Governing multi-actor decision processes in Dutch industrial area redevelopment

In the first part of the thesis, a literature review is presented. In this literature review, industrial areas in the Netherlands are discussed, leading to the conclusion that industrial areas are important for realizing sustainable economic growth in the Netherlands. Industrial areas play an important role in accommodating employment, in stimulating local and regional economies, and in creating a high value added. Furthermore, I conclude that process features have a significant influence on the outcome of industrial area (re)development projects. Subsequently, the most important problem aspects of the current industrial area planning approach are discussed, together with several causes of these problems. It is argued that most of these problematic failures can be traced back to one main problem: the rapid obsolescence of the existing stock of industrial areas. The dimensions of the Dutch industrial area redevelopment task affirm this. This creates a large necessity for redevelopment. However, based upon the disappointing figures on yearly realized redevelopment projects and on the low spatial yields of actually realized redevelopment projects, it is concluded that the execution of industrial area redevelopment projects stagnates. When starting up a redevelopment project in the current increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment, interdependent negotiation processes within and among organizations appear to be problematic, consuming substantial time and effort. Focus within this research lies therefore on studying, supporting and accommodating the consensus-building process within redevelopment projects. The point of departure in this research is the postulate that the main cause of the occurring stagnation in industrial area redevelopment is the absence of a well-functioning process governance system. Several authors support this statement; they posit that the regional arena is the appropriate level for executing such governance. Because of a lack of insight into effective ways to implement a governance system, and because of the presumed advantages related to the acceleration of industrial area redevelopment processes when gaining this insight, the general research objective is as follows: ‘To explore ways to effectively support the governance of involved stakeholders’ choice behavior, in order to stimulate the current decision-making processes in industrial area redevelopment projects’. Thus, governance – and especially meta-governance – is a promising approach for application to complex industrial area redevelopment projects. Several best-practice industrial area redevelopment projects reveal that centrally governing such alliances contributes to project success. The aim of meta-governance within industrial area redevelopment projects is to establish cooperation between relevant parties, in order to realize a number of functions and purposes from a public, social importance, through the establishment of one central governing agency, responsible for the management of the decision-making process. In Dutch industrial area redevelopment, regional development companies seem most appropriate for executing this central governance role. Assuming that meta-governance can be a solution to the occurring problems in the Dutch industrial area redevelopment market, it is essential to analyze the consensusfinding processes, as well as causes of tension and conflict, in order to theoretically support governing agencies in managing decision-making processes. Therefore, the specific goal of the research is to better understand how individual and interactive decision-making of the most important actors in industrial area redevelopment processes can be modeled, in order to analyze and predict the occurrence of cooperation or conflict, and how this decision-making can be influenced by a regional governing agency. A better understanding of these processes is a key requirement for the development of a decision support tool for this regional governing agency, in order to support the acceleration of industrial area redevelopment projects. A formal model of the collaborative decision process has not been developed for this domain, incorporating a governance approach. Therefore, several available techniques for analyzing both individual and interactive decision-making are explored in the second part of the thesis. From this, it is concluded that the discrete choice approach seems applicable for modeling individual choice behavior of actors. Furthermore, the application of game theory seems very interesting for modeling interactive and interdependent choice behavior. In order to make a game-theoretic model that is suitable for studying strategic interactions in industrial area redevelopment, a relatively new approach is advocated in which game theory is combined with a multiattribute trade-off technique. Eventually, the application of game theory leads to an insight in the occurrence of conflicts, and in the causes of these conflicts. The 2x2 game is regarded as most appropriate for application in this research because this game type has been used very often in conflict modeling and conflict management, and it suits the real world negotiation processes in which two players are involved, each roughly having two strategies. Within 2x2 games, three tools are most utilizable for solving conflicts: (1) changing the information of the involved players; (2) changing the payoffs of the players; and (3) changing the rules of the game, focusing on the sequence of decisionmaking and the possible allowance of communication in the game. Because the research focuses on static 2x2 games of complete information, it is concluded that gaining insight in the second tool is most feasible and interesting. In the third part, the results are represented. Firstly, the individual choice behavior of involved actors is modeled, thereby giving a better and more systematical insight in stakeholders’ preferences when accepting or rejecting a development plan, in the (dis)similarities between both stakeholder groups’ preferences in making that choice, and in the most important points of interest when composing a development plan proposal. Resulting data analysis showed that the plan attributes ‘technical quality’ and ‘cost coverage’ are important for both stakeholder groups when choosing a plan proposal. A high level of these attributes in a plan results in a high probability of being chosen, while a low level results in a low choice probability. Besides this, companies find the attribute ‘development speed’ very important when choosing a plan, and municipalities value ‘architectural quality’ highly. Furthermore, municipalities proved to be less demanding in accepting industrial area redevelopment plan proposals. Secondly, the interaction between involved stakeholders is modeled as an interdependent process, using a relative novel approach in which conjoint analysis and game theory are combined, in order to explain the occurrence of cooperation or conflict within Dutch industrial areas redevelopment negotiations. Data analysis reveals that there is one major source of conflicts; stakeholders choosing not to cooperate based upon the presented negotiation setting. A more in-depth analysis of negotiation settings ending up in mutual cooperation demonstrated that the appraisal of both stakeholders for the proposed development plan is the most influential factor, together with an eventual absolute difference between both players’ appraisals. This leads to the conclusion that the content of proposed plans is very important in such negotiations; factors like power and risks play a secondary role. Thirdly, a model is created that supports the decision-making of a central governing agency. This model is based upon the results of the individual and interactive choice models, giving recommendations on how to put meta-governance into practice in industrial area redevelopment. The model consists of three major steps: (1) giving assistance in assessing the initial state of the negotiation; (2) calculating whether the possible conflict occurrence can be prevented by marginally changing the payoffs of both players; and (3) indicating how the equalizing of appraisals can be put into practice. This final step gives insight in the contribution of specific changes in plan proposals to solving the conflicts that are discovered in the first part. After testing the model, it is concluded that altering payoffs in games in order to avoid conflicts is very effective in these games. Furthermore, these payoffs can often be altered through the use of minimal resources. In cases in which the municipality values the proposed plan lower than the company – raising the levels of the attributes technical quality, architectural quality, and value development results most often in an equaling of both players’ appraisals. Furthermore, the attribute architectural quality functions most often as the only solution. Reciprocally, in cases in which the company has a lower plan proposal appraisal, raising the levels of the attributes development speed, technical quality, and cost coverage most often results in an equal plan proposal appraisal. In general, tools are already available for executing interventions on above-mentioned attributes. Thus, focus should be on actual execution of the governance task, not on adding tools to the existing instrumental palette. Concluding, a model is created with which it is possible to give recommendations concerning the decision-making of a central governing agency in different possible industrial area redevelopment negotiations. It entails a new, structured way of solving conflicts, which is empirically testable, and delivers some real world recommendations

Choice Experiments and Design Decision-Making

There is a growing interest in evidence-based design in landscape architecture. This is an exploratory study of the choice experiment method: an economic approach used by many other disciplines but not yet landscape architecture, to collect empirical evidence on the public's preferences for different landscape design characteristics. A choice experiment was conducted for an open space development in downtown Baltimore. The outcomes of the experiment provided a basis for the design of a downtown surface parking lot into a public open space. Design decisions were made with better clarity and confidence that the design solution could maximize utility and value to the public

Three Essays in Applied Microeconomics with Policy Implications on Safety and Environment in Transportation Sectors

This collection of essays explores safety and environmental concerns within transportation sectors through applied microeconomics lenses, offering practical policy insights. The first essay examines the effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures in mitigating wildlife vehicle collisions, utilizing Washington state crash data from 2011 to 2020. Employing a difference-in-differences methodology, the study reveals that these structures lead to a reduction of one to three collisions per mile per year. The estimated annual benefits per structure range from $235,000 to$443,000 in 2021 U.S. dollars.The second essay measures consumer demand for environmentally friendly, “Salmon Safe”, tires drawing on survey data collected from 695 vehicle owners in California, Oregon, and Washington. This stated preference study indicates that the median respondent is willing to pay approximately 10% more, or $76, for a set of four reformulated tires. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the mode of information presentation – whether through a narrated video or static text and images – does not affect comprehension, and forced deliberation does not alter consumers’ willingness to pay.Lastly, the third essay evaluates the efficiency of public resource allocations in urban traffic stops and car accidents, utilizing comprehensive datasets from the Seattle Police Department and the Washington State Department of Transportation. Employing Instrumental Variables (IV) Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) and IV Poisson Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approaches, the findings suggest that more traffic stops lead to fewer accidents. Additionally, there is geographic heterogeneity in the impact of increasing traffic stops on areas with at least one accident. Downtown locations and areas with higher daily traffic are associated with larger reductions in accidents, while more affluent areas are related to fewer reductions. This study highlights the importance of targeted resource allocation strategies, contributing to the discussions on place-based policies