Using discrete choice experiments to value preferences for air quality improvement: the case of curbing haze in urban China

China's top legislature amended a law that “sets environmental protection as the country's basic policy”, which planned to force regulators to make improvements in air quality. Limited studies have attempted to estimate separate values for attributes of air quality improvements from the perspective of how residents value the reduction of haze and health benefits. We apply a discrete choice experiment to estimate the economic benefits involved in these changes. The analysis demonstrates that residents from urban areas are positively willing to pay for air quality improvement. We further employ a mixed logit model and a latent class model to investigate potential heterogeneity in preferences. The preference heterogeneity is significantly related to individuals' exposure to health risks relating to air quality, which is represented by whether the residence location of the respondent is covered by haze/smog on the interview day.     

APPLICATION OF THE CONTINUOUS STORMWATER POLLUTION SIMULATION SYSTEM (CSPSS): PHILADELLPHIA CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes the Continuous Stormwater Pollution Simulation System (CSPSS) as well as a site-specific application of CSPSS to the Philadelphia urban area and its receiving water, the Delaware Estuary. Conceptually, CSPSS simulates the quantity and quality or urban stormwater runoff, combined sewer overflow, municipal and industrial waste water effuent, and upstream flow on a continuous basis for each time step in the simulation period. In addition, receiving water dissolved oxygen, suspended solids, and lead concentrations resulting from these pollutant sources may be simulated. However, only rceiving water dissolved oxygen (DO) response is considered in this paper. The continuous Do receiving water response model was calibrated to existing conditions usinv observed data at Chester, Pennsylvnia, located on the Delaware Estuary approximately 10 miles down stream from the study area. Average annual pollutant loads to the receiving water were estimated for all major sources and receiving water quality improvements resulting from removal of various portions of these pollutant loads were estimated by application of the calibrated stimultion model. It was found that the removal of oxygen-demanding pollutants from combined sewer overflow and urban stormwater runoff would result in relatively minor improvements in the overall dissoved oxygen resources of the Delaware Estuary; whereas. removal of oxygen demanding pollutants from waste water treatment plant effluent would result in greater improvemens. The results of this investigation can be used along with appropriate economic techniques to identify the most cost-effective mix of point and nonpoint source pollution control measures.     

Benefit–Cost Analysis of StormwaterQuality Improvements

The major purpose of this paper is to explore the potential value of benefit–cost evaluation for stormwater quality management decisions at a local level. A preliminary benefit–cost analysis (BCA) screening method is used for maximum extent practicable (MEP) analysis, identifying promising management practices, and identifying societal and economic tradeoffs for local stormwater problems. Ballona Creek, a major urban storm drain in Los Angeles, California, USA, is used to illustrate the practicality of the benefit–cost evaluation. The Ballona Creek example demonstrates the economic limits of stormwater management in an urban region and attests to the value of coordinated basinwide management compared to uncoordinated management by individual landowners. Evaluation results suggest that in urban areas, the benefit of stormwater quality improvements might be far greater if accompanied by comprehensive redesign of drainage networks and neighboring land uses. In this case, benefit–cost analysis is found to be useful for evaluating and understanding stormwater management alternatives despite the uncertainties in characterizing stormwater quality and the effects of stormwater management on improving receiving water quality.     

Improving quality with waste minimization for small businesses

All businesses are continually seeking ways to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, reduce waste, and minimize costs. However, small businesses are frequently overlooked in discussions of the implementation of environmental quality improvements in conjunction with management practice improvements. Humes Collision Center incorporated new waste reduction techniques when it expanded its old facilities in 1992, and it was able to achieve the benefits of cost and waste reduction. Humes Collision Center repairs an average of 500 cars annually and is a very small quantity generator of hazardous waste, as defined by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. This case study documents the waste minimization and economic benefits at the new autobody repair facility in Hermantown, Minnesota.     

AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION CONTROL: IMPLICATIONS FROM THE RURAL CLEAN WATER PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: The Rural Clean Water Program has provided a unique opportunity to study the economics of agricultural nonpoint source pollution control. Several implications for improving the economic efficiency of future agricultural nonpoint source pollution control programs can be drawn from the results. First, individual projects should be targeted towards water bodies that have water quality problems causing economic damages. Considerable variation can exist among areas in the magnitude of economic damages, which may not be proportional to physical impacts. Second, the relative costs and effectiveness of the practices selected to reduce the delivery of pollutants can vary dramatically from one location to another. Early identification and emphasis on cost-effective BMPs can substantially reduce project costs and may make a project economically justifiable that would not otherwise be so. Finally, some projects that do not hive potential economic benefits from water quality improvements exceeding government cost may have on-farm benefits from reduced costs and increased long-term yields that are sufficient to make total benefits (water quality and on-farm) exceed costs.     

The multifunctionality of urban farming: perceived benefits for neighbourhood improvement

Urban farming – a type of urban agriculture focused on entrepreneurial food production – serves multiple functions in neighbourhoods; yet these are not well delineated. Expectations for urban farming often centre on traditional measures of economic development, potentially overlooking other benefits. Through a qualitative case study conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, we sought to understand community perceptions regarding the ways in which urban farms can benefit cities. Interviews with residents, neighbourhood leaders, and urban farmers in three residential neighbourhoods with urban farms revealed the pathways by which community members view farms as improving neighbourhoods. Benefits stemmed from four primary changes urban farms made to study neighbourhoods: creation of public projects welcoming involvement, physical improvement of degraded space, production of local food, and creation of new businesses. These changes led to multiple perceived benefits including increased social connectedness, a transformed physical landscape, improved neighbourhood reputation, increased access to fresh produce, and educational, youth development, and employment opportunities. Our findings demonstrate the importance of a multifunctional paradigm that accounts for social and educational functions in assessing the value of urban farming and bring empirical evidence to the concept of multifunctional agriculture. Urban farms with strong social aims may appear to contribute little to economic development if measured using traditional indicators of success such as job creation or fiscal impacts, but provide numerous other benefits for community development.     

Flood Risk Reduction from Agricultural Best Management Practices

Best management practices (BMPs) play an important role in improving impaired water quality from conventional row crop agriculture. In addition to reducing nutrient and sediment loads, BMPs such as fertilizer management, reduced tillage, and cover crops could alter the hydrology of agricultural systems and reduce surface water runoff. While attention is devoted to the water quality benefits of BMPs, the potential co‐benefits of flood loss reduction are often overlooked. This study quantifies the effects of selected commonly applied BMPs on expected flood loss to agricultural and urban areas in four Iowa watersheds. The analysis combines a watershed hydrologic model, hydraulic model outputs, and a loss estimation model to determine relationships between hydrologic changes from BMP implementations and annual economic flood loss. The results indicate a modest reduction in peak discharge and economic loss, although loss reduction is substantial when urban centers or other high‐value assets are located downstream in the watershed. Among the BMPs, wetlands, and cover crops reduce losses the most. The research demonstrates that watershed‐scale implementation of agricultural BMPs could provide benefits of flood loss reduction in addition to water quality improvements.     

COMPUTER-OPTIMIZED STORMWATER TREATMENT (COST) PROGRAM: PHILADELPHIA CASE STUDY1

ABSTRACT: Two computer models, the Continuous Stormwater Pollution Simulation System (CSPSS) and the Computer Optimized Storm-water Treatment Program (COST), were developed to aid in performing water quality planning. This paper describes COST and its site specific applications to the Philadelphia urban area, using the results from an updated CSPSS receiving water simulation. COST provides a planning and conceptual design tool to identify the economically optimum combination of wet weather and dry weather pollution abatement alternatives. Economic analysis procedures incorporated are based on production theory and marginal cost analysis. This study demonstrates that by transforming BOD removal to reduction in low DO events, using CSPSS results, the benefits associated with pollutant removal can be accounted for explicitly by COST simulations. This is important because a pound of BOD removed from combined sewer overflow may be of more benefit to the receiving water than a pound of BOD removed from urban stormwater runoff. The selection of a pollution control strategy is often a difficult decision which should consider social, political, financial, and regulatory factors. It is suggested that such a selection can be based on evaluating the tradeoffs between total annual costs and receiving water improvements, as determined using the COST and CSPSS programs.     

Environmental quality and council house sales: A case study of North Tyneside,UK

Summary The residential environments in British urban areas are divided between those dominated by public sector (local authority) housing and those properties which are owner-occupied. It is widely recognised that the environmental quality of local authority housing estates varies considerably. It may be expected, therefore, that the United Kingdom 1980 Housing Act, which encouraged the tenants of public sector housing to purchase the dwellings they rented from local authorities, would have a differential impact, according to the environmental quality of those estates. However, this relationship has not been previously explored. Most studies have related sales to a range of socio- economic variables. Whilst these may effectively indicate ability to buy they do not necessarily indicate willingness to buy. It is argued that the latter may be more closely related to factors such as the quality of the local environment. Findings from the North Tyneside area in northern England suggest that the spatial pattern of sales is more closely related to an index of environmental quality than one composed largely of socio-economic variables. Some of the implications of this finding for policy in relation to public sector housing are then discussed. It is suggested that if the ultimate objective of the Housing Act is to promote a larger private sector, then initially this may require a considerably larger public sector involvement in environmental improvement.Dr Michael Barke, is the senior author, Principal Lecturer in Geography and Acting Head of the Department of Environment at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic. He has published a number of articles on aspects of urban change in North-East England. Ms Julie Rowlands is a graduate in Environmental Studies from the same Polytechnic and currently studying for professional qualifications in urban and regional planning in Perth, Western Australia.     

Community environmental action: The plumstead common experience

This paper traces the origins and progress of a small grass-roots local environmental initiative. From the simple desire of a few people to clean up some waste land behind their homes grew the Plumstead Common Environment Group. Working closely with the local Borough Council, the group has obtained funding from English Nature, Shell Better Britain Campaign, the Co-operative Society, local businesses and residents. It has expanded its remit from less than 1 ha to over 50 ha of public open space within an older, high-density housing area in Greater London. The important feature of this project is the balance it manages to achieve between a number of potentially competing needs. These include the needs of local people to have a degree of control over, and be practically involved in, the improvement of their immediate environment; to have feedback in terms of aesthetic improvements; and to conserve/enhance the ecological value of the area. Failure to maintain this balance can undermine the viability of such projects. The ways in which the project has addressed ethical, aesthetic and ecological considerations are outlined, serving as an exemplar of sound community-based environmental practice for urban ecological projects elsewhere.     

宝鸡市区人居环境状况动态变化研究

在探讨城市人居环境基本概念的基础上,构建了城市人居环境评价指标体系,并对宝鸡市区2004～2008年的人居环境进行了系统的分析与评价。分析结果表明,2004年以来宝鸡市区的人居环境有了很大的改善,尤其是居住条件改善速度较快,但基础设施与公共服务设施、生态环境质量改善速度缓慢。针对这些问题,提出优化宝鸡市区人居环境的具体...     

Evaluating the multiple benefits of marine water quality improvements: how important are health risk reductions?

Marine water pollution affects many recreational sites around the world. It has impacts not only on recreational activities but also on health risks for those who come into direct contact with the water. Few economic studies have explicitly considered the health risks of bathing in polluted marine waters and none have attempted to separate health benefits from other benefits of marine water quality improvements. This paper uses stated preference techniques to separately evaluate the multiple benefits of improving the quality of marine recreational waters at the Estoril Coast in Portugal. The results indicate that health risk reductions are only a small fraction of the total social benefits of water quality improvements.     

An optimization model for integrated urban planning: development and application to Algeria's Reghaïa and Heraoua municipalities

In this paper, I develop an optimization model for integrated urban planning for land use at the municipality level, in which decisions arise from an area-based weighted-GDP maximisation algorithm whose weights represent the sustainability and implementability of the land uses. The model favours the involvement of stakeholders in urban governance, but does not use complicated assessment procedures for non-economic indicators or relative weights to combine economic, social and environmental indicators; instead, the integration between economic activities and environmental status is represented objectively and non-linearly by referring to initial and sustainability conditions. The model accounts for both human and environmental dynamics by adopting a spatial structure that permits compromises between economic information (available at a macro level) and ecological information (available at a micro level). A single value is attached to each urban governance, with an elicitation of future decisions (including acceptance of the status quo) and the ability to provide an evaluation of past decisions: some environmental policies are considered. The model’s predictions are based on reasonably reliable knowledge that can be easily collected, with reliability determined by calculating the confidence level. The resulting urban governance can then be presented and further analysed within a geographical information system. A case study of the model’s application to Algeria’s Regha?a and Heraoua municipalities provides insights into optimal urban governance, with and without water quantity or quality policies, in terms of resource sustainability, sectoral development, and pollution sustainability. I also assess the previous master plan in terms of the land uses suggested by the model.     

How multilateral financial institutions promote sustainable water infrastructure planning through economic appraisal: case studies from coastal cities of China

Sustainable urban water infrastructure planning is vital for all cities in developing countries, where rapid urbanization has exacerbated the increasingly burdened environment. Water sustainability is a prerequisite for economic growth, social equity, and living quality in urban areas. This paper documents the current challenges and summarizes the solutions adopted in water infrastructure planning and management. Then, case studies of how multilateral financial institutions have promoted sustainable water infrastructure planning through economic appraisal and the novel approaches adopted for sustainable water infrastructure planning and asset management, are presented for the three cities of Jiaozhou, Cixi, and Fangchenggang. Conclusions are made based on the comparison and analysis of the experiences drawn from the case studies of how economic analysis could help promote sustainable water infrastructure planning and management. It is illustrated that economic analysis that considers ecosystem services supply should be employed more in water infrastructure planning, operation, and management in China.     

Determination of the effect of operating cost uncertainty on mining project evaluation

Mining projects are complex businesses that demand constant risk assessment. This is because several kinds of uncertainties influence the value of a mine project, typically. These uncertainties may be classified as exploration uncertainties, economic uncertainties and engineering uncertainties. The evaluation of a mine project under these uncertainties is a complicated job, which may lead to making a wrong decision by managers and stockholders. Therefore, at first, the engineers must recognize the mining uncertainties before carrying out the project evaluation. The economic uncertainties are the most important factors, which may affect the project evaluation. Among the mentioned uncertainties, the operating cost uncertainty is an important and effective factor, which is ignored to a certain extent.     

ESTIMATING THE BENEFITS OF PHOSPHORUS POLLUTION REDUCTIONS: AN APPLICATION IN THE MINNESOTA RIVER1

ABSTRACT: In order to make economically efficient decisions about water quality improvements, data on both the costs and benefits of these improvements is needed. However, there has been little research on the benefits of reducing phosphorus pollution which implies that policy decisions are not able to make the comparison of costs and benefits that is essential for economic efficiency. This research attempts to ameliorate this situation by providing an estimate of the benefits of a 40 percent reduction in phosphorus pollution in the Minnesota River. A 1997 mail survey gathered information on Minnesota residents'use of a recreational site on the Minnesota River, the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, and their willingness to pay for phosphorus reductions in the Minnesota River. The random effects probit model used in this research to investigate household willingness to pay for phosphorus pollution reductions in the Minnesota River incorporates recent innovations in nonmarket valuation methodology by using both revealed and stated preference data. This model estimated annual household willingness to pay for phosphorus reductions in the Minnesota River at $140. These results may be used in combination with cost estimates to determine the economic efficiency of phosphorus clean up.     

Learning in agriculture: building social capital in island communities

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research in agricultural businesses and into managing change through learning in communities has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal infrastructure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by communities, businesses and individuals. Communities can be geographic communities—the data drawn on in this paper are from an island community, for example—or communities-of-common-purpose, such as agricultural organisations. This paper reviews research into managing change through learning and social capital, presents a model of the simultaneous building and use of social capital and explores the ways in which learning as part of an agricultural community can be used to bring benefits to geographic communities such as islands. The model presented in this paper stems from studies of the informal learning process that builds resilient communities. It conceptualises the way in which social capital is used and built in interactions between individuals. There are two stages to the model. The first stage depicts social capital at the micro level of one-on-one interactions where it is built and used. The second stage of the model is about the interrelationship of micro-level social capital processes with the community and societal-level social capital resources.     

Learning in agriculture: building social capital in island communities

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research in agricultural businesses and into managing change through learning in communities has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal infrastructure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by communities, businesses and individuals. Communities can be geographic communities—the data drawn on in this paper are from an island community, for example—or communities-of-common-purpose, such as agricultural organisations. This paper reviews research into managing change through learning and social capital, presents a model of the simultaneous building and use of social capital and explores the ways in which learning as part of an agricultural community can be used to bring benefits to geographic communities such as islands. The model presented in this paper stems from studies of the informal learning process that builds resilient communities. It conceptualises the way in which social capital is used and built in interactions between individuals. There are two stages to the model. The first stage depicts social capital at the micro level of one-on-one interactions where it is built and used. The second stage of the model is about the interrelationship of micro-level social capital processes with the community and societal-level social capital resources.     

Progress with implementing local air-quality management in rural areas of England

Air quality in the UK, although vastly improved from the smogs of the 1950s, now faces a new set of challenges from a variety of sources and pollutants. Poor air quality has long been associated with urban areas, but it is becoming clear that many rural locations also have locations likely to exceed the UK Air Quality Strategy-objectives: This paper will examine the extent to which rural authorities have been engaged in the local air-quality management (LAQM) process, a new regime by which air quality control is being accomplished in the UK. Results are presented from a questionnaire survey of environmental health officers of 100 rural authorities undertaken in January 1999. The paper investigates both the technical aspects of the LAQM process as well as the management approaches. The current progress of rural authorities, and some of the problems they face, are discussed particularly in comparison with urban areas. It is concluded that some rural authorities with air pollution problems stemming either from within or outwith their borough, may face significant challenges from the LAQM review and assessment process, particularly where air pollution responsibilities have only relatively recently been addressed. Rural authorities seem to be embracing these new responsibilities enthusiastically, but it is almost inevitable that they will be trailing behind urban authorities who have several decades of experience and joint working to draw upon.     

Adaption to Extreme Rainfall with Open Urban Drainage System: An Integrated Hydrological Cost-Benefit Analysis

This paper presents a cross-disciplinary framework for assessment of climate change adaptation to increased precipitation extremes considering pluvial flood risk as well as additional environmental services provided by some of the adaptation options. The ability of adaptation alternatives to cope with extreme rainfalls is evaluated using a quantitative flood risk approach based on urban inundation modeling and socio-economic analysis of corresponding costs and benefits. A hedonic valuation model is applied to capture the local economic gains or losses from more water bodies in green areas. The framework was applied to the northern part of the city of Aarhus, Denmark. We investigated four adaptation strategies that encompassed laissez-faire, larger sewer pipes, local infiltration units, and open drainage system in the urban green structure. We found that when taking into account environmental amenity effects, an integration of open drainage basins in urban recreational areas is likely the best adaptation strategy, followed by pipe enlargement and local infiltration strategies. All three were improvements compared to the fourth strategy of no measures taken.