Organization: Arborist News

Year of publication: 2007

Type of green infrastructure: Urban Forest

Type of benefit(s): Economic

Summary: Urban nature in all its forms-urban forests, parks, greenbelts- provides a range of benefits and services to society, most of which are not readily bought and sold. Economists calculate the "use value" of nature and ecosystems when tangible goods can be exchanged at market prices, such as timber or fisheries products. "Non-use values" set up a more complex economic puzzle. How can we estimate values for the many indirect, intangible services and functions that urban nature provides, such as beauty, ecosystem services, and psychological benefits? The issue of valuation has become paramount in our society. What is not counted does not count in today's public arena. When markets do not exist for a resource in question then efforts are made to derive monetary value. Natural settings, ranging from wildland to urban, offer many beneficial life-support functions. Nonmarket valuation techniques arose from the desire to represent the natural environment in the decision-making calculus within communities. This article serves two purposes: it discusses the need for nonmarket valuations in local decision making, and introduces the technique called hedonic pricing, including a summary of valuation studies over several decades.

Link: City Trees and Property Values.pdf 357 KB