The willingness to pay to remove billboards and improve scenic amenities

We use the contingent valuation method to measure the amount citizens are willing to pay to improve scenic mountain-view amenities through the removal of billboards. Our approach addresses both the perceived property rights as well as the perceptions of the status quo in the southern Appalachian Mountains. We find that individuals who retire to the mountains have different preferences for land use and mountain views than individuals who have ancestors who lived in Watauga County. In the aggregate, we find that citizens are willing to pay almost one-half million dollars to remove billboards from Watauga County roadsides. This study provides insights to the debate surrounding land use along public roads.     

Reviews

REGIONAL PLANNING: A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW

JEREMY ALDEN and ROBERT MORGAN

Leonard Hill Books, Intertext, London, 1974. £6.

MAN‐MADE FUTURES: READINGS IN SOCIETY, TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

NIGEL CROSS, DAVID ELLIOTT and ROBIN ROY (EDS.)

Hutchinson Educational in association with Open University Press, London, 1974. 365 pp., cased £5, paperback £2.75.

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM STRUCTURE PLAN: WRITTEN STATEMENT

NEVILLE BORG (City Engineer)

City of Birmingham, 1973.

DESIGNING FOR HUMAN BEHAVIOUR: ARCHITECTURE AND THE BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES

(Community Development Series. Series Editor, Richard P. Dober.)

JON LANG, CHARLES BURNETTE, WALTER MOLESKI and DAVID VACHON (EDS.)

Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., Stroudsburg, Pa., 1974. 352 pp., S20 (U.K. price not stated).

THE BOOK OF GARDEN ORNAMENT

PETER HUNT (ED.)

J. M. Dent & Co., London, 1974. £9.75.

AMENITY AND URBAN PLANNING

DAVID L. SMITH

Crosby Lockwood Staples, London, 1974. 198 pp. £4.50.     

Book reviews

ANALYTICAL PLANNING: THE ORGANISATION OF SYSTEMS

Thomas L. Saaty and Kevin P. Kearns

Pergamon Press, 1985. Price: U.S. $40.00, U.K. £29.50.

THE GEOGRAPHER AT WORK

Peter Gould

Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1985’ Price: £8.95.

UTOPIA ON TRIAL

Alice Colman

Hilary Shipman Ltd., 19 Framfield Road, Highbury, London. May 1985 (reprinted August, 1985). Price: £7.95.

SIR RAYMOND UNWIN: ARCHITECT, PLANNER AND VISIONARY

Frank Jackson

A. Zwemmer Ltd., London 1985. 187 pp. with maps and illustrations.

STRATEGIC PLANNING IN ACTION: THE IMPACT OF THE CLYDE VALLEY REGIONAL PLAN 1946–1982

R. Smith and U. Wannop (eds)

Gower, 1985, 272 pp. Price: £16.50.

LOCALITIES, CLASS AND GENDER

The Lancaster Regionalism Group (Linda Murgatroyd, Mike Savage, Dan Shapiro, John Urry, Sylvia Walby, Alan Warde, with Jane Mark‐Lawson)

Pion Ltd., 1985. Price: £12.00.     

Social organization of female sperm whales and their offspring: constant companions and casual acquaintances

Summary Associations among female sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus, and their dependent offspring, off the Galapagos Islands were studied between 1985 and 1989. The whales were found in groups containing about 23 individuals, with each individual having approximately 12 constant (over years) companions. These permanent units associated with one another for periods of 6.5 days, although the rate and duration of these associations seemed to vary between years, perhaps because of differences in the food supply. The principal function of the closed units may be care of the offspring, and units in the same general area may derive benefit from feeding in a coordinated manner.Offprint requests to: H. Whitehead     

Changes in persistent contaminant concentration and CYP1A1 protein expression in biopsy samples from northern bottlenose whales, Hyperoodon ampullatus, following the onset of nearby oil and gas development

A small population of endangered northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) inhabits "The Gully" a Marine Protected Area on the Scotian Shelf, eastern Canada. Amid concerns regarding nearby oil and gas development, we took 36 skin and blubber biopsy samples in 1996-1997 (prior to major development) and 2002-2003 (five years after development began), and three samples from a population in the Davis Strait, Labrador in 2003. These were analysed for cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) protein expression (n=36), and for persistent contaminants (n=23). CYP1A1 showed generally low expression in whales from The Gully, but higher levels during 2003, potentially coincident with recorded oil spills, and higher levels in Davis Strait whales. A range of PCB congeners and organochlorine compounds were detected, with concentrations similar to other North Atlantic odontocetes. Concentrations were higher in whales from The Gully than from the Davis Strait, with significant increases in 4,4'-DDE and trans-nonachlor in 2002-2003 relative to 1996-1997.     

Book reviews

ENGLISH STRUCTURE PLANNING

Eds: D. T. Cross and M. R. Bristow

Pion Ltd., London, 1983. £16.00.

AN INTRODUCTION TO URBAN RENEWAL

Michael S. Gibson and Michael J. Longstaff

London: Hutchinson, 1982. 384 pp.

INTEGRATED URBAN MODELS

S. H. Putman

Pion Ltd., 1983, 332 pp.

EXPLANATION PREDICTION AND PLANNING: THE LOWRY MODEL

M. T. Webber

Pion Ltd., London, 1984, 214 pp.

THE GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF METROPOLITAN AREAS IN WESTERN DEMOCRACIES

Alan Norton

Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham, 1983, 57 pp.

THE MANAGEMENT OF SEMI‐NATURAL WOODLAND

County Planning Officers’ Society (available from Hampshire County Planning Dept., price £2.00).