Public Willing To Pay More For Greener Urban Spaces

Research from the University of Sheffield has found that people are willing to pay up to £29.91 per month, or around £360.00 per year, for greener urban spaces. Researchers surveyed the public in the two major urban centres of Manchester and Sheffield to find out how much extra they were willing to pay in council tax or rent/mortgage payments for green spaces in their local area. They found that people were willing to pay more for greener spaces with greater tree coverage.

Members of the public in Sheffield and Manchester were shown images of how their local areas could be developed in the future and were asked to state how much more they would be willing to pay for each scenario.

On Whitworth Street in Manchester, members of the public pay an average of £2.20 per month for street cleaning and £1.50 per month to maintain green spaces through council tax. The survey found that people were willing to pay an extra £1.46 per month to maintain the street in its current state, an extra £1.61 per month if small ornamental trees were planted and up to £2.33 extra per month for large forest trees and grass landscaping.

Meanwhile, in Sheffield city centre near Blonk Street, rents or mortgage payments for small apartments are around £575 per month. The study found that people were willing to pay £4.27 more per month to maintain the new footbridge, riverside walkway and flood defence works that have recently been completed. If additional landscaping was undertaken in the area they would pay £8.00 more per month. However, they said that they would pay even more -- an extra £10.81 per month -- if the natural vegetation of the riverside was allowed to re-establish itself.