IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i21p5933-d280134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Residential Land Use Change in the Wissahickon Creek Watershed: Profitability and Sustainability?

Author

Listed:
  • John Sorrentino

    (Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA)

  • Mahbubur Meenar

    (Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, School of Earth and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA)

  • Donald Wargo

    (Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA)

Abstract

The Wissahickon Creek Watershed is one of five major watersheds in the Philadelphia metro region. The main objective of the work in this paper was to determine and compare the energy and environmental impacts of placing housing in the Watershed according to profitability and environmental sustainability criteria, respectively, in the context of increasing urbanization. Future population and employment for the Watershed have been projected by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Housing requirements for the projected populations in each municipality were computed, and their location was influenced by the local zoning ordinances. Suitability analysis using ArcGIS 10.6 generated areas for development based alternatively on profitability and local sustainability. CommunityViz 5.2 Scenario 360 software was used to place buildings within the appropriately-zoned areas. Using Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET1 2018) software and water quality monitoring information from the Philadelphia Water Department, impacts were directly estimated. The impacts were related to effects on ecosystem functioning, ecosystem goods and services, and broad value estimated for the latter. The effects were used to indicate what might be appropriate policies to reduce the negative environmental consequences of residential development in the watershed. Unexpectedly, the environmental impacts of the profitable and sustainable scenarios were not very different. This suggests that profitability and sustainability need not be mutually exclusive.

Suggested Citation

  • John Sorrentino & Mahbubur Meenar & Donald Wargo, 2019. "Residential Land Use Change in the Wissahickon Creek Watershed: Profitability and Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-31, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:5933-:d:280134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/5933/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/5933/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Albert Saiz, 2010. "The Geographic Determinants of Housing Supply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1253-1296.
    2. Bernadette Hanlon & Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, 2018. "Suburban revalorization: Residential infill and rehabilitation in Baltimore County’s older suburbs," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(4), pages 895-921, June.
    3. Walsh Patrick J. & Wheeler William J., 2013. "Water quality indices and benefit-cost analysis," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 81-105, March.
    4. Ingrid Nesheim & Line Barkved, 2019. "The Suitability of the Ecosystem Services Framework for Guiding Benefit Assessments in Human-Modified Landscapes Exemplified by Regulated Watersheds—Implications for a Sustainable Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Poor, P. Joan & Pessagno, Keri L. & Paul, Robert W., 2007. "Exploring the hedonic value of ambient water quality: A local watershed-based study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 797-806, February.
    6. H. Leroy Gill & Donald R. Haurin, 1991. "User Cost and the Demand for Housing Attributes," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 19(3), pages 383-396, September.
    7. Arminda Almeida & Nuno Sousa & João Coutinho-Rodrigues, 2019. "Quest for Sustainability: Life-Cycle Emissions Assessment of Electric Vehicles Considering Newer Li-Ion Batteries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Albouy, David & Lue, Bert, 2015. "Driving to opportunity: Local rents, wages, commuting, and sub-metropolitan quality of life," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 74-92.
    9. Min Fan & Hideaki Shibata, 2014. "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Hydrological Provision Ecosystem Services for Watershed Conservation Planning of Water Resources," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3619-3636, September.
    10. Glaeser, Edward L. & Gyourko, Joseph & Saiz, Albert, 2008. "Housing supply and housing bubbles," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 198-217, September.
    11. Blackley, Dixie M, 1999. "The Long-Run Elasticity of New Housing Supply in the United States: Empirical Evidence for 1950 to 1994," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 25-42, January.
    12. Z. Aslıgül Göçmen & James A. LaGro, 2016. "Assessing local planning capacity to promote environmentally sustainable residential development," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(8), pages 1513-1535, August.
    13. Mayer, Christopher J. & Somerville, C. Tsuriel, 2000. "Residential Construction: Using the Urban Growth Model to Estimate Housing Supply," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 85-109, July.
    14. Somerville, C Tsuriel, 1999. "Residential Construction Costs and the Supply of New Housing: Endogeneity and Bias in Construction Cost Indexes," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 43-62, January.
    15. Stephen Gibbons & Stephen Machin, 2008. "Valuing school quality, better transport, and lower crime: evidence from house prices," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 99-119, spring.
    16. Ali Azarnivand & Mohammad Ebrahim Banihabib, 2017. "A Multi-level Strategic Group Decision Making for Understanding and Analysis of Sustainable Watershed Planning in Response to Environmental Perplexities," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 629-648, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oikarinen, Elias & Peltola, Risto & Valtonen, Eero, 2015. "Regional variation in the elasticity of supply of housing, and its determinants: The case of a small sparsely populated country," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 18-30.
    2. Joseph T. L. Ooi & Thao T. T. Le, 2012. "New Supply and Price Dynamics in the Singapore Housing Market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(7), pages 1435-1451, May.
    3. Chin-Oh Chang & Ming-Chi Chen, 2014. "Construction financing in Taiwan: current state and policy regime," Chapters, in: Susan Wachter & Man Cho & Moon Joong Tcha (ed.), The Global Financial Crisis and Housing, chapter 8, pages 180-207, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Oliver W. Lerbs, 2014. "House prices, housing development costs, and the supply of new single-family housing in German counties and cities," Journal of Property Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 183-210, September.
    5. Oliver Lerbs, "undated". "House Prices, Housing Development Costs, and the Supply of New Single-Family Housing in German Counties and Cities," Working Papers 201283, Institute of Spatial and Housing Economics, Munster Universitary.
    6. Canepa, Alessandra & Zanetti Chini, Emilio & Alqaralleh, Huthaifa, 2019. "Modelling Housing Market Cycles in Global Cities," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201901, University of Turin.
    7. David Genesove & Lu Han, 2012. "A Spatial Look at Housing Boom and Bust Cycles," NBER Chapters, in: Housing and the Financial Crisis, pages 105-141, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Malpezzi, Stephen & Maclennan, Duncan, 2001. "The Long-Run Price Elasticity of Supply of New Residential Construction in the United States and the United Kingdom," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 278-306, September.
    9. Divya Singh, 2020. "Do Property Tax Incentives for New Construction Spur Gentrification? Evidence from New York City," 2020 Papers psi856, Job Market Papers.
    10. Ball, Michael & Meen, Geoffrey & Nygaard, Christian, 2010. "Housing supply price elasticities revisited: Evidence from international, national, local and company data," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 255-268, December.
    11. Alessandra Canepa & Emilio Zanetti Chini & Huthaifa Alqaralleh, 2022. "Global Cities and Local Challenges: Booms and Busts in the London Real Estate Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 1-29, January.
    12. Hilber, Christian Albin Lukas & Mense, Andreas, 2021. "Why have house prices risen so much more than rents in superstar cities?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114283, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Bimonte, Salvatore & Stabile, Arsenio, 2015. "Local taxation and urban development. Testing for the side-effects of the Italian property tax," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 100-107.
    14. Alessandra Canepa & Emilio Zanetti Chini & Huthaifa Alqaralleh, 2020. "Global Cities and Local Housing Market Cycles," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 671-697, November.
    15. Sheridan Titman & Ko Wang & Jing Yang, 2014. "The Dynamics of Housing Prices," NBER Working Papers 20418, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Arthur Grimes & Andrew Aitken, 2010. "Housing Supply, Land Costs and Price Adjustment," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 325-353, June.
    17. Oikarinen, Elias & Bourassa, Steven C. & Hoesli, Martin & Engblom, Janne, 2018. "U.S. metropolitan house price dynamics," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 54-69.
    18. Beenstock, Michael & Felsenstein, Daniel, 2015. "Estimating spatial spillover in housing construction with nonstationary panel data," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 42-58.
    19. Lozano Navarro, Francisco-Javier, 2015. "Elasticidad precio de la oferta inmobiliaria en el Gran Santiago [Housing supply elasticity in Greater Santiago]," MPRA Paper 65012, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Liu, Yishen, 2018. "Estimating the elasticity of supply of housing space rather than units," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-10.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:5933-:d:280134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.