Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Pets and wildlife are overlooked in sustainable urban planning. At the same time, densification and expansion of cities increase pressure on green spaces and their users. Urban green spaces (UGS) can be planned to support the welfare of humans, and potentially the welfare of wildlife and pets. Here, we used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to explore citizens’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for several policy interventions that can potentially improve dogs, wildlife, and human welfare, in Umeå, northern Sweden. We document that Umeå citizens value the connectedness of UGS as much as implementing compulsory dog owner education expressed in terms of tax on gross income (i.e. 1.688% vs 1.669%). Additionally, we report a similar positive WTP for increased UGS coverage, as for including dogs’ needs in UGS planning (0.396% for 24% of UGS coverage, vs 0.393%). We found an overall WTP for the tested interventions equivalent to an additional yearly tax of 4.146% for 10 years (22,479 SEK per person per year) when citizens were not asked to increase the level of engagement in the decision-making process for UGS planning. Otherwise, if asked to participate more, the overall WTP was 3.568% (19,266 SEK per person per year). This sums up to a total WTP of 1.8 billion SEK per year, which would according to a preliminary assessment, be enough to construct 155 ha UGS. Our case study suggests that Umeå citizens were willing to pay for policy interventions that can improve their welfare but also for policies that can potentially improve animal welfare, indicating a willingness to coexist. Hence, we contribute to the literature that explores more-than-human-tailored urban environments. Ultimately, this study aims to move us one step forward toward a sustainable urban coexistence between dogs, wildlife, and humans.