Willingness-To-Pay and Ranking of Preferences for Heat Mitigation Measures in Singapore
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Date
2020-09-09
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Report
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yes
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Abstract
In many countries, Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects come along with urbanization in metropolitan areas. They have relevant adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of citizens and Singapore is strongly affected by UHI. In this study, we assess Singaporeans and Permanent Residents’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for five different heat mitigation measures as well as their ranking of implementation preference. Specifically, we employ a double-bounded dichotomous survey design on a representative sample of 670 online respondents living in commercial and residential areas (i.e. 340 in the CDB and 330 in Punggol areas, respectively) of Singapore. The five mitigations under evaluation are related to vegetation (covered sidewalks and urban parks), shading (shaded plazas) and new technologies (electric vehicles and district cooling systems). Our results suggest that even though Punggol and CBD populations prefer the implementation of vegetation measures as the main way to improve outdoor thermal comfort and decrease UHI effect, they are willing to contribute considerable amounts of their income towards the implementation of new technologies in Singapore (i.e. electric vehicles and district cooling). This suggests the high level of people’s support and acceptance for new ways to improve thermal comfort. We find that the annual mean WTP value for the five mitigation strategies among Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents living in Punggol and CBD areas is estimated at SGD38.893 million and SGD63.922 million, respectively. The total annual WTP for both areas is estimated at SGD102.815 million, the equivalent of USD75million per year. Furthermore, demographic and socio-economic characteristics are significant determinants of Singaporeans and Permanent Residents’ WTP in Punggol and CBD. The WTP for each of the five mitigations increases with education and health but decreases with age. Additionally, people with children are willing to pay more. Additional analyses show that the level of heat awareness, positive attitudes towards heat mitigation strategies as well as preferences for outdoor activities are positively correlated with the different WTP amounts. Our findings suggest that citizens are aware of the impacts of urban heat and support mitigation measures to be financed by their taxes. Policy interventions to promote urban-heat-related education and the dissemination of related information might increase the support of heat mitigation policies.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
2.3.2
Pages / Article No.
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Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), Cooling Singapore (CS)
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Subject
Willingness to Pay; Contingent Valuation Method; Environmental goods; UHI; Mitigation Strategies; Preferences
Organisational unit
03361 - Schubert, Renate (emeritus) / Schubert, Renate (emeritus)
02803 - Collegium Helveticum / Collegium Helveticum
08058 - Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) / Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC)
Notes
Project Title: Cooling Singapore 1.5: Virtual Singapore Urban Climate Design