Public perception and preferences of small urban green infrastructures: A case study in Guangzhou, China

With the growing demand for small urban green infrastructures (UGIs), knowing the public perception of small UGIs is important for future urban planning and decision-making. This study focusing on three small UGIs (a green roof, green wall, and small green lane in Guangzhou) explored residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the maintenance of small UGIs and estimated their nonmarket value via travel cost method (TCM). Among 409 respondents from different neighborhoods, 80% were willing to pay for using and maintaining these UGIs. The aggregated annual WTP for investigated UGIs was approximately RMB 72.3 million per household, and the annual nonmarket value that the UGIs provided to human well-being was about RMB 74.5 million per household. Young respondents who might have lower incomes would like to pay more compared to elderly respondents. Among the five environmental issues investigated, people took air pollution as the most severe issue, and they preferred to pay more for air quality regulation services. To improve public understanding of small UGIs and their urban ecosystem services, education and publicity programs should be launched for various groups of people in the future. These findings will help city planners identify more effective designs for small UGIs, thus meeting societal preferences and demands.