Parks, trails and other pockets of green space have multiple benefits for Hampton Roads, such as boosting people’s health and naturally absorbing rainwater.
A team at Old Dominion University is working to break down and quantify those benefits to better inform local governments and communities.
Laura Costadone, an assistant professor at the school’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, leads the research.
“If we are able to monetize these benefits, we can give them a voice,” she said. “We are able to translate something that is captured mostly in physical and ecological terms, to terms that resonate very well with the decision making, which is the dollar amount.”
Over the past few years, Costadone has evaluated specific projects or locations, such as Back Bay in Virginia Beach.
The wildlife refuge is estimated to have an annual recreational value of about $75 million, according to the ODU research, which drew from on-site surveys and crowdsourced data from platforms including Flickr, AllTrails and TripAdvisor.
Costadone also worked with Virginia Beach on a cost-benefit analysis of the Bow Creek Stormwater Park, currently under construction. The city is converting a former golf course into a public park to ease flooding.
The ODU analysis estimated the park would cut in half structural damages caused by flooding, cool newly tree-covered areas by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, raise nearby property values by more than 2% and increase pollinators such as bees and butterflies with new native plants.
All are conservative estimates, Costadone said. It’s difficult to capture more intangible benefits, such as improving residents’ mental health or enhancing an area’s biodiversity, but the calculations will grow more detailed over time with input from people and data sources.
The wider research field is relatively new but growing, she said. Leaders across the globe are weighing how to allocate limited resources to prepare for the impacts of climate change while meeting many other community needs, such as affordable housing.
Costadone, a native of Italy, first helped develop a model for translating “natural capital” while working in northern Europe.
She said many countries there “are a little bit ahead of the game,” because they require these kinds of valuations, which track losses in nature and how to compensate.
Upon coming to the U.S., she was surprised to see fewer green spaces – and that officials counted grass lawns such as school fields as among them.
“For me, a park is defined by trees in good condition, flowers, native species, a bench (where) people can rest,” Costadone said. “We need better nature for people to really add this benefit.”
Her research is expanding across the region, including working with the city of Norfolk to analyze information from the fitness app Strava to understand how residents experience the Elizabeth River Trail.
She’ll also partner with William & Mary’s Batten School and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which previously evaluated the worth of coastal wetlands.
Costadone said she hopes the growing body of evidence will empower local governments to prioritize projects rooted in nature, especially compared to hardened flood infrastructure that doesn’t provide secondary benefits for the ecosystem or recreation.
The information illustrates the demand for green space, but local leaders must ensure the supply, she said.
“It’s an opportunity to foster more parks, tree canopy, but really implementing those solutions in those areas that need it the most.”
