• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.239-266
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• 2023

This study applied the contingent valuation method (CVM) to measure the benefits from an urban liner park that will be created as part of the Gyeongin Expressway downgrade project by Inchon metropolitan city government. The Incheon city government plans to create a liner park (10.5 km) in the middle of the downgraded road to provide leisure and recreation services to residents, and plans to remove retaining walls and soundproof walls to improve the urban residential environment. Considering the characteristics of a liner park that spans several districts in Incheon city and the downgraded road that will be passed by residents of nearby cities as well as Incheon residents, the target population included residents of part of Seoul and several cities surrounding Incheon. In a CVM survey of 1,000 respondents conducted in April 2018, about 70% of the respondents perceived this project positively. About 50% of 757 respondents, excluding protest bids respondents, were willing to pay additional taxes for this project. The more the respondents favored the creation of a linear park and the more they thought that this project would improve the surrounding residential environment, the more positively they evaluated the additional tax payment. The average annual willingness to pay for this project was about 15,300 won for Incheon residents and 6,800 won for residents of Seoul metropolitan area. It is interesting to observe that residents of Seoul metropolitan area, who are not directly affected by this project, were willing to pay a considerable amount for this project.