IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v92y2020ics026483771930568x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban greening: A new paradox of economic or social sustainability?

Author

Listed:
  • Du, Mengbing
  • Zhang, Xiaoling

Abstract

Cities globally have incorporated sustainable development into their planning, and led the way in responding to the world’s ecological crisis by “going green”. Urban green space accessibility is considered as the key to urban sustainability progress, not only environmentally, but also economically and socially. However, previous research rarely considers the latter two dimensions together. This study therefore joins the sustainability discussion from a new perspective, in particular the debate concerning the value of urban green spaces and whether and how they contribute to the variegated sustainability agenda? Based on data for 76,595 residential housing units in New York City, measuring the economic gains and equity losses from current urban green space accessibility reveals a paradox in sustainable development where the economic and social benefits of urban green space accessibility are seldom compatible, tending to involve a trade-off of some kind. In response, it is proposed that the spatial patterns of land use can represent a step towards multifaceted aspects of sustainability, with the provision of numerous small green areas that are “affordable and accessible” throughout the city being a more appropriate policy agenda than a few vast parks. Such a policy approach, it is argued, will provide a ‘win-win’ situation in terms of simultaneously contributing to both economic prosperity and the social justice of sustainability. This research also provided evidence for the institutional-driven countries such as China on how to learn from western experiences on planning land use patterns that are sustainable for individuals.

Suggested Citation

  • Du, Mengbing & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2020. "Urban greening: A new paradox of economic or social sustainability?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:92:y:2020:i:c:s026483771930568x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026483771930568X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104487?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Sezhu & Hite, Diane, 2013. "Measuring the Effect of Green Space on Property Value: An Application of the Hedonic Spatial Quantile Regression," 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2-5, 2013, Orlando, Florida 143045, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    2. Anand, Sudhir & Sen, Amartya, 2000. "Human Development and Economic Sustainability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2029-2049, December.
    3. Stavins, Robert N. & Wagner, Alexander F. & Wagner, Gernot, 2003. "Interpreting sustainability in economic terms: dynamic efficiency plus intergenerational equity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 339-343, June.
    4. Ioan Voicu & Vicki Been, 2008. "The Effect of Community Gardens on Neighboring Property Values," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 36(2), pages 241-283, June.
    5. David Wachsmuth & Daniel Aldana Cohen & Hillary Angelo, 2016. "Expand the frontiers of urban sustainability," Nature, Nature, vol. 536(7617), pages 391-393, August.
    6. Efrat Eizenberg & Yosef Jabareen, 2017. "Social Sustainability: A New Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Roland Benabou, 2000. "Unequal Societies: Income Distribution and the Social Contract," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 96-129, March.
    8. King, A Thomas & Mieszkowski, Peter, 1973. "Racial Discrimination, Segregation, and the Price of Housing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 590-606, May-June.
    9. Cho, Seong-Hoon & Bowker, James Michael & Park, William M., 2006. "Measuring the Contribution of Water and Green Space Amenities to Housing Values: An Application and Comparison of Spatially Weighted Hedonic Models," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1-23, December.
    10. Xia Feng & Brad Humphreys, 2018. "Assessing the Economic Impact of Sports Facilities on Residential Property Values," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(2), pages 188-210, February.
    11. Rakhshanda Khan, 2016. "How Frugal Innovation Promotes Social Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-29, October.
    12. Harrison, David Jr. & Rubinfeld, Daniel L., 1978. "Hedonic housing prices and the demand for clean air," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 81-102, March.
    13. Nicola Dempsey & Glen Bramley & Sinéad Power & Caroline Brown, 2011. "The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 289-300, September.
    14. A. M. Freeman, 1981. "Hedonic Prices, Property Values and Measuring Environmental Benefits: A Survey of the Issues," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Steinar Strøm (ed.), Measurement in Public Choice, pages 13-32, Palgrave Macmillan.
    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. Barbieri, Elisa & Di Tommaso, Marco R. & Pollio, Chiara & Rubini, Lauretta, 2020. "Getting the specialization right. Industrialization in Southern China in a sustainable development perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Hossein Farhadikhah & Keramatollah Ziari, 2021. "Social sustainability between old and new neighborhoods (case study: Tehran neighborhoods)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 2596-2613, February.
    3. Ankitha Vijayakumar & Muhammad Nateque Mahmood & Argaw Gurmu & Imriyas Kamardeen & Shafiq Alam, 2024. "Social sustainability assessment of road infrastructure: a systematic literature review," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 1039-1069, April.
    4. Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska & Anna Kłoczko-Gajewska & Piotr Sulewski, 2019. "Between the Social and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability in Rural Areas—In Search of Farmers’ Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Jubril Olakitan Atanda & Ayşe Öztürk, 2020. "Social criteria of sustainable development in relation to green building assessment tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 61-87, January.
    6. Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Chen, Yu & Liu, Gengyuan & Yan, Ningyu & Yang, Qing & Gao, He & Su, Liya & Santagata, Remo, 2023. "Comprehensive evaluation of urban greenspace ecological values marketability through the spatial relationship between housing price and ecosystem services," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 484(C).
    8. Taimaz Larimian & Arash Sadeghi, 2021. "Measuring urban social sustainability: Scale development and validation," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(4), pages 621-637, May.
    9. R. Rajesh, 2023. "Grey Markov Models for Predicting the Social Sustainability Performances of Firms," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 297-351, August.
    10. Candel, Melissa & Paulsson, Jenny, 2023. "Enhancing public value with co-creation in public land development: The role of municipalities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    11. Lucia Corsini & James Moultrie, 2019. "Design for Social Sustainability: Using Digital Fabrication in the Humanitarian and Development Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Jean Moussa Kourouma & Concillia Monde & Darius Phiri & Stephen Syampungani, 2023. "Community‐centred approach for assessing social sustainability in mining regions: A case study of Chingola district, Zambia," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 3102-3127, August.
    13. Jerome Ballet & Damien Bazin & François‐Regis Mahieu, 2020. "A policy framework for social sustainability: Social cohesion, equity and safety," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1388-1394, September.
    14. Franco, Sofia F. & Macdonald, Jacob L., 2018. "Measurement and valuation of urban greenness: Remote sensing and hedonic applications to Lisbon, Portugal," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 156-180.
    15. Ellinor Isgren & Stefano B. Longo, 2024. "Social sustainability: more confusion than clarity," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(4), pages 820-825, December.
    16. Viniece Jennings & Lincoln Larson & Jessica Yun, 2016. "Advancing Sustainability through Urban Green Space: Cultural Ecosystem Services, Equity, and Social Determinants of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Michael R. Cope & Ashley R. Kernan & Scott R. Sanders & Carol Ward, 2022. "Social Sustainability?: Exploring the Relationship between Community Experience and Perceptions of the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-10, February.
    18. Bonnie Averbuch & Martin Hvarregaard Thorsøe & Chris Kjeldsen, 2022. "Using fuzzy cognitive mapping and social capital to explain differences in sustainability perceptions between farmers in the northeast US and Denmark," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 435-453, March.
    19. Alka Kumari & Manvendra Pratap Singh, 2025. "The dharma of work: Cracking the code to social sustainability puzzle for the future of human resources," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2047-2059, April.
    20. Brian A. Cromwell, 1990. "Prointegrative subsidies and their effect on housing markets: do race- based loans work?," Working Papers (Old Series) 9018, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:lauspo:v:92:y:2020:i:c:s026483771930568x. 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: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    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.