Nonmarket Economic Valuation of an Urban Recreation Park

Abstract

We briefly discuss the problem of valuing time in recreation demand studies, and report on a recent case study which assessed the nonmarket economic value of Centennial Park, Sydney, using both the Travel Cost and Contingent Valuation methods. Modal choice analysis was used to estimate the value of travel time for inclusion in a Travel Cost model. The nonmarket economic value of the park was estimated to be between $23 and $33 million per year, with at least $2.6 million due to nonuse value.'¹ This compared favourably with annual management and maintenance costs of under $6 million.

KEYWORDS:

• Recreation economic benefits
• nonmarket valuation
• Travel Cost
• Contingent Valuation