How can you estimate the value that urban communities get from trees and wooded views?

Summary

Street trees and woodland views can deliver a wide range of economic, social and health benefits. Forest Research assessed methodologies, especially spatial GIS techniques, for estimating the value of these benefits.

Key findings and recommendations

Findings:

• Most amenity valuations use revealed and stated preference methods
• There are few nationwide or large-scale valuations of street trees or woodland views in the UK, based on GIS analysis
• The amenity value of woodlands often depends on species composition and conditions; in the UK broadleaved or mixed woodlands have a positive effect on house prices
• New woodlands yield the highest marginal benefits at the urban fringe
• Household characteristics (e.g. education and income level, and the
  presence of children) can affect the valuation of amenity woodland and open space
• There is a trade-off between the value of timber production and visual amenity values of woodland, especially at the urban fringe
• Visible clear-cut sites can have major negative impacts on visual amenity values

Recommendations:

• Hedonic pricing methods are appropriate for case studies which investigate links between the property market, recreation and local use greenspace
• Stated preference methods (i.e. surveys or benefit transfer from the previous surveys) are most appropriate for large-scale changes and/or where non-use or total values are sought
• Future econometric studies should test for functional specification in hedonic models and control for the presence of spatial autocorrelations

Publications

• Estimates of the value of woodland views were made as part of the Forestry for People project
• Project summary sheet
• Project summary sheet woodland views

Funders and partners

Commissioned and funded by the Forest Commission

Status

The project was completed in 2009.

Contact

For further information contact:

Vadim Saraev