Do urban environmental inequalities influence demand for nature based solutions?

• Published in: Ecological economics Vol. 224; p. 108298
• Main Authors: Farina, Georges, Le Coënt, Philippe, Hérivaux, Cécile
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Co-benefits; Earth Sciences; Environmental inequalities; Nature-based solution; Preference heterogeneity; Sciences of the Universe; Co-benefits; Nature-based solution; Environmental inequalities; Preference heterogeneity
• ISSN: 0921-8009; 1873-6106
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108298

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are currently being promoted for urban climate change adaptation. We argue that urban planners should account for the demand for NBS, which may be spatially heterogeneous and influenced by environmental inequalities. We develop a discrete choice experiment to evaluate preferences for two co-benefits (aquifer preservation and local climate regulation), as well as one potential negative effect of NBS policies (their impact on the reduction of space available for cars in cities). The survey in a large French city reveals a strong heterogeneity of preferences for local climate regulation and for the reduction of car space. We analyze the spatial heterogeneity of preferences, and find significant spatial autocorrelation and local clusters of high/low demand for local climate regulation and for the reduction of car space. In a subsequent post-estimation model, we identify that individual's exposure to heat islands affects positively their demand for NBS policies, which allows us to effectively create a city-wide demand map for local climate regulation. In addition, individual's reliance on car use influence their demand for NBS policies. Overall, our analysis highlight that analyzing environmental inequalities is important for planning sound NBS policies. •We conduct a choice experiment to analyze demand for Nature-based Solutions.•We analyze the distribution of three types of distributional environmental inequalities.•We investigate the effect of exposure to environmental inequalities on demand.