Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T21:48:19.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Demand for Urban Forests and Economic Welfare: Evidence from the Southeastern U.S. Cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

Pengyu Zhu  and
Yaoqi Zhang
Pengyu Zhu
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, AL
Yaoqi Zhang
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, AL
Get access

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between urban forests and household income and population density in the 149 cities with populations over 40,000 in nine southeastern states. Our empirical results show that urban forest percentage across the cities has characteristics of the environmental Kuznets curve. We find that household income around $39,000 is a threshold that changes the relationship between income and urban forest coverage from negative to positive, whereas the impact of population density on urban forests is just the opposite, from positive to negative when population density is around 180 persons per square kilometer.

Keywords

environmental Kuznets curveenvironmental qualityincomeland usepopulation densitytree canopyC31Q23Q56Q57R14
Type
Invited Paper Sessions
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , August 2006 , pp. 279 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergstrom, T.C., and Goodman, R.R. “Private Demands for Public Goods.” American Economic Review 63(1973):280–96.Google Scholar
Borcherding, T.E., and Deacon, R.T.. “The Demands for the Services of Nonfederal Governments.” American Economic Review 62(1972): 891–901.Google Scholar
Chenoweth, R.E., and Gobster, P.H.. “The Nature and Ecology of Aesthetic Experiences in the Landscape.” Journal of Landscape 9(1990): 118.Google Scholar
Cook, D.I. “Trees, Solid Barriers, and Combinations: Alternatives for Noise Control.” Proceedings of the National Urban Forestry Conference. Hopkins, G., ed., pp. 330–39. New York: USDA Forest Service, 1978.Google Scholar
Cropper, M., and Griffiths, C.. “The Interaction of Population Growth and Environmental Quality.” The American Economic Review 84(1994): 1358–93.Google Scholar
De Groot, H.L.E, Withagen, C.A., and Minliang, Z.. “Dynamics of China's Regional Development and Pollution: An Investigation into the Environmental Kuznets Curve.” Environment and Development Economics 9(September 2004): 507–37.Google Scholar
Dwyer, J.F., Nowak, D.J., Noble, M.H., and Sisinni, S.M.. Connecting People with Ecosystems in the 21st Century: An Assessment of Our Nation's Urban Forests. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-490, 2000.Google Scholar
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of August 17, 1974 (Public Law 93378, 88 Stat. 476, as amended); 16 U.S. Code 1600–1614.Google Scholar
Heisler, G.M. “Effects of Individual Trees on the Solar Radiation Climate of Small Buildings.” Urban Ecology 9(1996):337–59.Google Scholar
Johnson, C.W. “Planning for Avian Wildlife in Urbanizing Areas in America Desert/Mountain Valley Environments.” Landscape and Urban Planning 16(1988):245–52.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. “Economic Growth and Income Inequality.” The American Economic Review 45(1955):1–28.Google Scholar
Kweon, B.S., Sullivan, W.C., and Wiley, A.R.. “Green Common Spaces and the Social Integration of Inner-City Older Adults.” Environment and Behavior 30(6)(1998):832–58.Google Scholar
Lindmark, M. “Patterns of Historical C02 Intensity Transitions among High and Low-Income Countries.” Explorations in Economic History 41(4)(2004):426–47.Google Scholar
McPherson, E.G. “Modeling Residential Landscape Water and Energy Use to Evaluate Water Conservation Policies.” Journal of Landscape 9(1990): 122–34.Google Scholar
Meier, A.K. “Measured Cooling Savings from Vegetative Landscapes.” Energy Efficiency and the Environment: Forging the Link. Vine, E., Crawley, D., and Centolella, P., eds. Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 1991.Google Scholar
Nowak, D.J. “Atmospheric Carbon-Reduction by Urban Trees.” Journal of Environmental Management 37(3)(1993):207–17.Google Scholar
Nowak, D.J., and McPherson, E.G.. “Quantifying the Impact of Trees: The Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project.” Unasylva 173(44)(1993):39–44.Google Scholar
Oke, T.R. “The Micrometeorology of the Urban Forest.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 324(Series B)(1989):335–49.Google Scholar
Panayotou, T. Empirical Tests and Policy Analysis of Environmental Degradation at Different Stages of Economic Development. Geneva: International Labor Office, Technology and Employment Programme Working Paper WP238, 1993.Google Scholar
Perkins, G.M. “The Demand for Local Public Goods: Elasticities of Demand for Own Price, Cross Prices, and Income.” National Tax Journal 30(1977):411–422.Google Scholar
Rowntree, R.A., and Nowak, D.J.. “Quantifying the Role of Urban Forests in Removing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.” Journal of Arboriculture 17(10)(1991):269–75.Google Scholar
Rupasingha, A., Goetz, S.J., Debertin, D.L., and Pagoulatos, A.. “The Environmental Kuznets Curve for US Counties: A Spatial Econometric Analysis with Extensions.” Papers in Regional Science 83(2)(2004):407–24.Google Scholar
Sanders, R.A. “Urban Vegetation Impacts on the Hydrology of Dayton, Ohio.” Urban Ecology 9(1986):361–76.Google Scholar
Santerre, R.E. “Spatial Differences in the Demands for Local Public Goods.” Land Economics 61(1985):119–28.Google Scholar
Schroeder, H.W. “Environment, Behavior and Design Research on Urban Forests.” Advances in Environment, Behavior and Design, Zube, E.H. and Moore, G.T., eds. New York: Plenum, 1989.Google Scholar
Shafik, N., and Bandyopadhyay, S.. “Economic Growth and Environmental Quality: Time Series and Cross-Country Evidence.” Background Paper for the World Development Report. Washington D.C.: The World Bank, 1992.Google Scholar
Smith, W.H. Air Pollution and Forests. New York: Springer, 1981.Google Scholar
Stern, D.I., Common, M.S., and Barbier, E.B.. 1996. “Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation: The Environmental Kuznets Curve and Sustainable Development.” World Development 24(7):1151–60.Google Scholar
Ulrich, R.S. “View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery.” Science 224(1984):420–21.Google Scholar