Version 1
: Received: 29 January 2018 / Approved: 30 January 2018 / Online: 30 January 2018 (06:53:16 CET)
How to cite:
Ratnayake, R.; Wattege, P.; Wickramaarachchi, N. Willingness to Pay for Urban Water Body Recreational Facilities: A Case Study at Diyatha Uyana. Preprints2018, 2018010279. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201801.0279.v1
Ratnayake, R.; Wattege, P.; Wickramaarachchi, N. Willingness to Pay for Urban Water Body Recreational Facilities: A Case Study at Diyatha Uyana. Preprints 2018, 2018010279. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201801.0279.v1
Ratnayake, R.; Wattege, P.; Wickramaarachchi, N. Willingness to Pay for Urban Water Body Recreational Facilities: A Case Study at Diyatha Uyana. Preprints2018, 2018010279. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201801.0279.v1
APA Style
Ratnayake, R., Wattege, P., & Wickramaarachchi, N. (2018). Willingness to Pay for Urban Water Body Recreational Facilities: A Case Study at Diyatha Uyana. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201801.0279.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Ratnayake, R., Prem Wattege and Naduni Wickramaarachchi. 2018 "Willingness to Pay for Urban Water Body Recreational Facilities: A Case Study at Diyatha Uyana" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201801.0279.v1
Abstract
Revitalization of open water bodies into recreational areas are becoming widely popular in many parts of Sri Lanka. Understanding community perception and expectation on recreational development have important policy and cost-effectiveness implications. This paper explores the public perspectives on development, conservation and value of the open water recreational development at Diyatha Uyana and surrounding area. Contingent Valuation Method has been applied to estimate peoples’ Willingness To Pay for recreational spaces in the selected area. A total of 300 residents from different socioeconomic backgrounds were selected randomly for the study. Enjoying peace and relaxation, taking children to play and breath clean air were mentioned as most important aspects of open water body areas. More frequent visits occur to enjoy peace and relaxation, breath clean air and enjoy the natural landscape. Almost all the participants were agreed upon conserving open water body areas in urban settings. Willingness to pay was significantly associated with income and occupation status. It yielded a monthly average payment of Rs.446.93 per household for another five years’ time. The limited budget was the main reason for not willing to pay. This paper is significant as there is no contingent valuation method study has been carried on water body development in Sri Lanka.
Keywords
contingent valuation method; open water body development; valuation of ecosystem; willingness to pay
Subject
Social Sciences, Sociology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
