A presentation on the Fields in Trust research report "Revaluing Parks and Green Spaces" at the Valuation in Practice event Tuesday 4th December Alison McCann Fields in Trust Dr Ricky Lawton Jump X Simetrica full report at: http://www.fieldsintrust.org/revaluing
2. MISSION
Green Spaces for Good 2
Fields in Trust champions and
supports our parks and green
spaces by protecting them for
people to enjoy in perpetuity.
Because once green spaces
are lost, they are lost forever.
VALUES
3. NEW STRATEGY
Green Spaces for Good 3
Parks and green spaces are
not simply nice to have; they
are a necessity for healthy,
happy communities positively
impacting on a range of key
wellbeing issues from physical
and mental health to social
cohesion.
Places where we can all move,
breathe, run and play
5. NEW RESEARCH
Green Spaces for Good 5
» Robust economic valuation of
parks and green spaces.
» HM Treasury Green
Book approved methodology
to measure the value of non-
market goods.
» Business case to demonstrate
the value of parks and green
spaces to counter the cost.
6. Green Spaces for Good 6
»Evidence led approach to our new strategy
»Innovative survey design: Online general
population survey: Respondents identify a
single local park within 20 mins of their house,
and provide details (name of park, size,
facilities, landscape features etc). Ensures
robust link between WTP value and the parks
they actually use.
»Demonstrate our impact with reliable data
»External policy drivers eg. CLG Select
Committee Parks Inquiry
»Need to influence decision makers e.g.
reducing the loss of parks and green spaces
DELIVERING IMPACT
7. REVALUING PARKS AND GREEN SPACES
Green Spaces for Good 7
“Effective public policy requires a strong evidence base
to support it. Fields in Trust’s report places a financial
value on the wellbeing generated by parks and green
spaces to enable informed choices to be made about the
importance of the continued provision of these non-
statutory services.”
Lord Gus O’Donnell
Former Cabinet Secretary
8. Green Spaces for Good 8
A green space
exists
This has natural
capital value
People use that
space to walk,
talk, run and
improve their
lives
People who don’t
use the green
space nevertheless
value the fact that
others can use it
The use (and non-
use) of green space
has an impact on
our wellbeing and
life satisfaction
This improvement
in wellbeing helps
the UK economy by
improving health
(savings on NHS)
= £ per person
(NHS savings)
= £ per person
(WTP Value)
= £ per person
(Wellbeing Value)
THE LOGIC CHAIN OF GREEN SPACE IMPACT
9. CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEY QUESTIONS
Green Spaces for Good 9
» VALUATION SCENARIO ONE:
Payment of a monthly subscription to
an independent not-for-profit
Organisation set up to maintain and
preserve all parks and green spaces in
the local authority area.
» VALUATION SCENARIO TWO:
Payment of a monthly subscription to
an independent not-for-profit
Organisation set up to maintain and
preserve their most commonly visited
local park or green space (within 1km of
their house), assuming that all other
parks and green spaces in the local area
continued to be funded as normal.
Results
» Average Willingness to Pay value of
£2.60 per month (£31.20/year) to
support the maintenance and
preservation of all parks and green
spaces in their local area
Results
» Average Willingness to Pay value of
£2.52 per month (£30.24/year) to
support the maintenance and
preservation of the single most
commonly visited local park or green
space
10. 1
2
3
WILLINGNESS TO PAY (WTP) VALUES
Green Spaces for Good 10
Establishes the value
individuals place on parks
and green spaces
Total Economic Value to
an individual - captures
both use and non-use
benefits.
Welfare weighting
demonstrates significant
differences between
demographics.
i. WTP values for all parks
and green spaces in the local
area
ii. WTP values for most
commonly visited local park
or green space
Whole
sample
Users
Non-
users
Whole
sample
Users
Non-
users
N 3783 2472 1311 3824 2497 1327
Mean £2.60 £3.03 £1.81 £2.52 £2.98 £1.64
Med-
ian
£1.25 £1.75 £0.00 £1.25 £2.25 £0.00
11. 1
2
3
SOCIAL WELFARE WEIGHTED WTP
Green Spaces for Good 11
» Annual value of parks and green
spaces increases considerably after
income weights are accounted for.
» Urban residents WTP increases from
£34.68 (unweighted) to £47.16
(welfare weighted).
» Lower socio-economic groups’ WTP
increases from £24.00 (unweighted)
to £51.84 (welfare weighted).
» BAME groups’ WTP increases from
£36.60 (unweighted) to £70.08
(welfare weighted).
AVERAGE £30.24
PER YEAR
LOWER SOCIO
ECONOMIC GROUPS
£51.84 PER YEAR
BAME COMMUNITIES
£70.08 PER YEAR
12. SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING VALUATION
Green Spaces for Good 12
» Life satisfaction (one of the ‘ONS Four’ wellbeing measures):
» Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
» The Office for National Statistics now recommends every
evaluation of a public service should include wellbeing
measures
2-stage analysis
» Multivariate regression analysis of statistical association between
regular park usage and life satisfaction.
» Instrumental variable (IV) on income data at national level (British
Household Panel Survey) to find the equivalent amount of money
that has the same impact on life satisfaction.
» See Dolan and Fujiwara in The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being
and Public Policy 2016
14. POLICY CONTEXT
Green Spaces for Good 14
» Contributing to the national policy debate in a way that
we weren’t doing before.
“Fields in Trust’s research highlights not only the vital
role that outdoor spaces play in improving our health, but
also their economic value. Our parks are precious, and I
want to improve access to them for everyone – including
the young, isolated and the vulnerable. These findings will
play an important role in informing how we achieve this
goal”
Rishi Sunak MP
Parks & Green Spaces Minister
MHCLG
15. POLICY INTO PRACTICE - SIX MONTHS ON
Green Spaces for Good 15
» CLG Select Committee Parks Inquiry and MHCLG Parks
Action Group
» Connecting communities – Civil Society and Loneliness
strategies
» DEFRA 25 Year Environment plan
» DCMS Sporting Futures
» DoH Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action
» DoH Prevention better than cure vision
» Scottish Government Outcomes: Healthy and active lives;
Inclusive communities; Protect and enhance our
environment
» The Wellbeing of Future Generations – Act of parliament in
Wales
» Northern Ireland Executive’s ten-year public health strategy
16. NEXT STEPS
Green Spaces for Good 16
» Developing a Local Valuation Model to apply the welfare
weighted WTP values to green space in a local area by
» Ethnicity and socio-economic status of the local
population
» The location (urban/rural)
» OS Green Space map launched in 2017 – first time we have
baseline data of all public green space
» Using GIS software to spatially analyse green space
provision and quantify the benefits through WTP values
» Influencing - policy into practice
» E.g. Public Health - Prevention green paper in 2019, NHS long
term plan