Linking urban air pollution with residents’ willingness to pay for greenspace: A choice experiment study in Beijing

This study investigates the nexus between urban air pollution and residents’ preferences for greenspace. The two environmental issues could be linked through people’s general tastes for environmental amenities helping to determine residential location choice, implying that residents of heavily-polluted neighbourhoods may care less about environmental amenities in general, including greenspace. Alternatively, high pollution levels could force people to reduce their local outdoor activities and thereby devalue urban greenspace as local recreational resources. Finally, residents of severely-polluted areas may derive additional benefits from greenspace as trees can enhance air quality. To examine these issues, we undertook choice experiment surveys in Beijing to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) for three types of greenspace: a neighbourhood park near respondents’ homes, a city park in central Beijing and a national park outside the city. We then used air pollution data to help explain the spatial heterogeneity in WTP. Neighbourhood parks provide direct air purification services for communities nearby, and our results indeed suggest that respondents exposed to higher pollution levels have higher WTP for a new neighbourhood park. However, we failed to find evidence of a significant effect of pollution on WTP for a new city park or a new national park.