Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:13:48.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Modeling Recreational Amenities in an Urban Setting: Location, Congestion, and Substitution Effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Frances R. Homans
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul
Elizabeth P. Marshall
Affiliation:
World Resources Institute in Washington, D. C.

Abstract

In this article, we introduce a recreational amenity—a greenbelt park—into a simple urban economic model. For multiple possible park placements, we solve for the associated equilibrium urban structure, including the equilibrium rent gradient, city boundary, total number of park visits, the overall utility level, and total vehicle miles traveled. We examine how these change with alternative park placement sites. We then show how two modifications of the basic model—allowing congestion at the site to affect site quality, and introducing the possibility of a substitute site at the city's periphery—affect our conclusions about how greenbelt location influences urban structure.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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

Alonso, W. 1964. Location and Land Use. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Cavailhes, J., Frankhauser, P., Peeters, D., and Thomas, I. 2004. “Where Alonso Meets Sierpinski: An Urban Economic Model of a Fractal Metropolitan Area.” Environment and Planning A 36(8): 14711498.Google Scholar
Colwell, P.F., Dehring, C.A., and Turnbull, G.K. 2002. “Recreation Demand and Residential Location.” Journal of Urban Economics 51(3): 418428.Google Scholar
Diamond, D.B., and Tolley, G.S., eds. 1982. Studies in Urban Economics: The Economics of Urban Amenities. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Duke, J.M., and Aull-Hyde, R. 2002. “Identifying Public Preferences for Land Preservation Using the Analytic Hierarchy.” Ecological Economics 42(1/2): 131145.Google Scholar
Heimlich, R.E., and Anderson, W.D. 2001. Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on Agriculture and Rural Land. Agricultural Economic Report No. 803, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Kanemoto, Y. 1980. Theories of Urban Externalities: Studies in Regional Science and Urban Economics (Vol. 6). Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Kline, J., and Wichelns, D. 1998. “Measuring Heterogeneous Preferences for Preserving Farmland and Open Space.” Ecological Economics 26(2): 211224.Google Scholar
Kovacs, K.F., and Larson, D.M. 2007. “The Influence of Recreation and Amenity Benefits of Open Space on Residential Development Patterns.” Land Economics 83(4): 3152.Google Scholar
Lee, C.M., and Fujita, M. 1997. “Efficient Configuration of a Greenbelt: Theoretical Modelling of Greenbelt Amenity.” Environment and Planning A 29(11): 19992017.Google Scholar
McConnell, K.E. 1990. “Double Counting in Hedonic and Travel Cost Models.” Land Economics 86(2): 121127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, G.R. 1991. “A Note on Choice of Residential Location in Travel Cost Demand Models.” Land Economics 67(3): 360364.Google Scholar
Plantinga, A., and Wu, J. 2003. “The Influence of Public Open Space on Urban Spatial Structure.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 46(2): 288309.Google Scholar
Smith, V.K., Van Houtven, G., and Pattanayak, S. K. 2002. “Benefit Transfer via Preference Calibration: ‘Prudential Algebra’ for Policy.” Land Economics 78(1): 132152.Google Scholar
Solow, R.M. 1973. “On Equilibrium Models of Urban Location.” In Parkin, M. and Nobay, A.R., eds., Essays in Modern Economics: The Proceedings of the Association of University Teachers of Economics. Aberystwyth, London: Longman Group Limited.Google Scholar
Wolfram Research. 2004. Mathematica software (Version 4) (www.wolfram.com).Google Scholar
Wu, J. 2001. “Environmental Amenities and the Spatial Pattern of Urban Sprawl.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83(3): 691697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar