Valuing the environment: recent UK experience and an application to Green Belt Land

This paper reviews recent UK work in the valuation of environmental costs and benefits. A brief description of available methods, and of major problem areas, is presented first. We then look at UK applications of contingent valuation, travel cost methods and hedonic pricing to a wide range of environmental resources, such as water quality, forests and urban landscapes. A contingent valuation study of the value of preserving greenbelt in Chester is then reported. We conclude with some cautions about the interpretation of valuation results.

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