Environmental management options for mitigation of congestion impacts in the Atatürk Urban forest of Bursa, Turkey

• Published in: Transactions on ecology and the environment Vol. 150; pp. 419 - 430
• Main Authors: GURLUK, S, ATANUR, G, TURAN, O
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Southampton WIT Press 2011; W I T Press
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Buildings. Public works; Congestion; Contingent valuation; Economic models; Ecosystems; Environment and sustainable development; Environmental impact; Environmental management; Environmental quality; Exact sciences and technology; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Impact damage; Miscellaneous; Mitigation; Resource management; Urban development; Urban forests; User satisfaction; Turkey; Recreation facility; Forests; Environmental quality; Survivor; Qualitative analysis; Urban area; Regression analysis; Sustainable development; Environmental management; Modeling; Statistics; Traffic congestion
• ISBN: 1845645448; 9781845645441
• ISSN: 1746-448X; 1743-3541
• DOI: 10.2495/SDP110351

The current paper presents the results of a contingent valuation for evaluating the environmental quality in the Atatürk Urban Forest of Bursa, Turkey. The environmental quality parameter under investigation at this recreational site is congestion. Congestion is an important externality having impacts that both limit common facilities and damage natural ecosystems. When users have to pay the same price for lower environmental quality, degraded ecosystems can cause negative impacts on users’ satisfaction levels due to congestion. We employed a qualitative response model to learn the covariate effects and mean willingness to pay for shifting congestion levels. Welfare effects of congestion levels offer robust policy options to local policy-makers and on-site management. Consequences point to a resource enlarging policy rather than restrictions on visitor numbers.