Provision of urban green spaces: Some insights from economics

Abstract The social demand for urban green spaces (UGSs) is increasing as a result of rapid urbanisation. To ensure the efficiency of public spending, their provision should be based on economic criteria. We highlight a range of issues in UGS policies and provide some economic instruments. UGSs confer costs and benefits that are not always taken into consideration. They lead to market failures as markets are not efficient in allocating them in a way that maximises their social value. First, we discuss how economics can be used to answer the question of public or private provision. Next we present methodologies to elicit the total economic value of UGSs. We then show how the public provision can result in non-optimal situations traducing the strategic behaviours of elected representatives. Finally, we discuss some key points within UGS production and maintenance as well as the main tradeoffs in terms of public policy

Politiques publiques et espaces verts urbains

Le paysage est une construction politique, culturelle et économique des rapports qu'entretiennent les sociétés humaines à l'espace. L'approche économique permet d'éclairer certains mécanismes liés à l'évolution et l'organisation du paysage

La capitalisation foncière des espaces verts dans la ville d’Angers : une approche hédoniste

Date du colloque&nbsp;: 2009</p

Capitalization of green spaces into housing values in the city of Angers: a hedonic approach

National audienc

La capitalisation immobilière des espaces verts dans la ville d&#039;Angers

L\u27expansion continue des zones urbaines françaises au détriment des zones rurales et naturelles devrait logiquement accroître le besoin en espaces verts de la part des citadins. Afin de déterminer si ces espaces verts sont capitalisés dans les valeurs immobilières, nous employons la méthode des prix hédonistes appliquée à la ville d\u27Angers sur la période 2004-2005. Nous améliorons le modèle traditionnel en utilisant différentes métriques paysagères calculées à l\u27aide d\u27un système d\u27information géographique. Nous observons en particulier que la distance par rapport aux espaces verts ainsi que leur densité sont des facteurs importants dans les choix de localisation résidentielle

Contesting longstanding conceptualisations of urban green space

Ever since the Victorian era saw the creation of “parks for the people,” health and wellbeing benefits have been considered a primary benefit of urban parks and green spaces. Today, public health remains a policy priority, with illnesses and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and depression a mounting concern, notably in increasingly urbanised environments. Urban green space often is portrayed as a nature-based solution for addressing such health concerns. In this chapter, Meredith Whitten investigates how the health and wellbeing benefits these spaces provide are limited by a narrow perspective of urban green space. Whitten explores how our understandings of urban green space remain rooted in Victorian ideals and calls into question how fit for purpose they are in twenty-first-century cities. Calling on empirical evidence collected in three boroughs in London with changing and increasing demographic populations, she challenges the long-held cultural underpinnings that lead to urban green space being portrayed “as a panacea to urban problems, yet treating it as a ‘cosmetic afterthought’” (Whitten, M, Reconceptualising green space: planning for urban green space in the contemporary city. Doctoral thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, U.K. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/. Accessed 12 Jun 2019, 2019b, p 18)

Farmland rental prices in GM soybean areas of Argentina : do contractual arrangements matter ?

We study the determinants of rental prices of farmland in the Argentinean Pampas. In particular, we examine the value of lease contract characteristics within a hedonic price framework, while controlling for other potential sources of variation. Using first-hand data for 255 parcels, our results indicate that both short-term contracts and contracts with sowing pools push rental prices upwards. We also find that soybean yields have a significant impact on land rental rates. These results suggest that if Argentina intends to protect the enormous natural advantage it has for agricultural production, it should consider strictly regulating land rental contracts

Natural disasters, land and labour

We study the behaviour of farmers living under the threat of the Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador. Recent eruptions have caused significant damage, including crop loss, death of livestock and destruction of dwellings. We collected a unique data set after a major eruption in 2016. We interviewed 222 farmers in the area affected by the eruption and 260 in a nearby control zone to understand why they choose to remain in the risky zone despite the existence of public programmes aimed at relocating them to safe zones. We examine land and labour, which are farmers' primary productive assets. First, we investigate the capitalisation of volcanic hazards in farmland values and find a negative price premium of 21 per cent compared to the control zone. Second, we explore non-farm labour in response to volcanic risk. Finally, we argue that repeated ash fall events increase the illiquidity of farm household assets, such as farmland, and that agricultural human capital is difficult to convert into non-agricultural capital. Our results convey important information for public policies aimed at supporting adaptation and resilience of people living under the threat of volcanoes and other natural disasters

Embedded Promissory Futures: The Rise of Networked Agribusiness in Argentina’s Bioeconomy

peer reviewe