IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i6p3211-d517150.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subjective Well-Being as a Potential Policy Indicator in the Context of Urbanization and Forest Restoration

Author

Listed:
  • Takuya Takahashi

    (School of Environmental Science, University of Shiga Prefecture, Hikone 522-8533, Japan
    Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan)

  • Yukiko Uchida

    (Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan)

  • Hiroyuki Ishibashi

    (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
    Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa 359-1192, Japan)

  • Noboru Okuda

    (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan
    Research Center for Inland Seas, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan)

Abstract

The enhancement of human well-being is one of the ultimate goals of resource management; however, it is not explicitly considered by forest policy indicators. Our previous studies examined how Japanese citizens in the Yasu River watershed of the Shiga Prefecture perceived subjective well-being related to forests (forest SWB). We found a negative correlation between forest SWB and forest ownership, suggesting dissatisfaction with the low profitability of forest ownership. Based on this result, in this paper, we argue that forest SWB can be an important indicator for policymaking in the context of urbanization and forest restoration and can complement existing forest indicators focusing mainly on physical and objective properties. First, we propose that a direct measurement of well-being (e.g., forest SWB) is preferable over an indirect measurement (e.g., GDP), for policymaking processes related to forests. Second, forest SWB can reflect the quality of our interactions with forests, which is important in urbanized societies which tend to have reduced experiences with nature. Third, forest SWB could identify inequalities between the users of forest ecosystem services and forest managers. Overall, forest SWB can be a holistic indicator to capture a variety of perspectives held by citizens.

Suggested Citation

  • Takuya Takahashi & Yukiko Uchida & Hiroyuki Ishibashi & Noboru Okuda, 2021. "Subjective Well-Being as a Potential Policy Indicator in the Context of Urbanization and Forest Restoration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3211-:d:517150
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3211/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3211/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Kahneman & Peter P. Wakker & Rakesh Sarin, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 375-406.
    2. Krekel, Christian & Kolbe, Jens & Wüstemann, Henry, 2016. "The greener, the happier? The effect of urban land use on residential well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 117-127.
    3. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    4. Tsurumi, Tetsuya & Imauji, Atsushi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "Greenery and Subjective Well-being: Assessing the Monetary Value of Greenery by Type," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 152-169.
    5. Costanza, Robert & de Groot, Rudolf & Braat, Leon & Kubiszewski, Ida & Fioramonti, Lorenzo & Sutton, Paul & Farber, Steve & Grasso, Monica, 2017. "Twenty years of ecosystem services: How far have we come and how far do we still need to go?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(PA), pages 1-16.
    6. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Valuing Ecosystem Diversity in South East Queensland: A Life Satisfaction Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 45-65, January.
    7. Kopmann, Angela & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2013. "A human well-being approach for assessing the value of natural land areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 20-33.
    8. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    9. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    10. Tsurumi, Tetsuya & Managi, Shunsuke, 2015. "Environmental value of green spaces in Japan: An application of the life satisfaction approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M., 2011. "Valuing scenic amenity using life satisfaction data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 106-115.
    12. Bieling, Claudia & Plieninger, Tobias & Pirker, Heidemarie & Vogl, Christian R., 2014. "Linkages between landscapes and human well-being: An empirical exploration with short interviews," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 19-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ryo Kohsaka & Yuta Uchiyama, 2021. "Special Issue: “Urban Agriculture, Forestry and Green-Blue Infrastructure as “Re-Discovered Commons”: Bridging Urban-Rural Interface”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-5, May.
    2. Diana Harding & Kevin Muhamad Lukman & Matheus Jingga & Yuta Uchiyama & Jay Mar D. Quevedo & Ryo Kohsaka, 2022. "Urban Gardening and Wellbeing in Pandemic Era: Preliminary Results from a Socio-Environmental Factors Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Takahashi, Takuya & Asano, Satoshi & Uchida, Yukiko & Takemura, Kosuke & Fukushima, Shintaro & Matsushita, Kyohei & Okuda, Noboru, 2022. "Effects of forests and forest-related activities on the subjective well-being of residents in a Japanese watershed: An econometric analysis through the capability approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Marina Bravi & Marta Bottero & Federico Dell’Anna, 2024. "An Application of the Life Satisfaction Approach (LSA) to Value the Land Consumption and Ecosystem Services," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2988-3013, March.
    3. de Vries, S.P. & Garcia Alvarez, G. & Botzen, W.J.W. & Bockarjova, M., 2023. "Valuing urban nature through life satisfaction: The consistency of GIS and survey indicators of nature," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Methorst, Joel & Rehdanz, Katrin & Mueller, Thomas & Hansjürgens, Bernd & Bonn, Aletta & Böhning-Gaese, Katrin, 2021. "The importance of species diversity for human well-being in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    5. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    6. Knight, S.J; Howley, P.;, 2017. "Can clean air make you happy? Examining the effect of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on life satisfaction," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 17/08, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. Krekel, Christian & Rechlitz, Julia & Rode, Johannes & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2020. "Quantifying the Externalities of Renewable Energy Plants Using Wellbeing Data: The Case of Biogas," IZA Discussion Papers 13959, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Ferreira, Susana & Moro, Mirko & Welsch, Heinz, 2024. "Using Life Satisfaction and Happiness Data for Environmental Valuation: An Experienced Preference Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 16718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Elli Papastergiou & Dionysis Latinopoulos & Myrto Evdou & Athanasios Kalogeresis, 2023. "Exploring Associations between Subjective Well-Being and Non-Market Values When Used in the Evaluation of Urban Green Spaces: A Scoping Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-31, March.
    10. Krekel, Christian & Kolbe, Jens & Wüstemann, Henry, 2016. "The greener, the happier? The effect of urban land use on residential well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 117-127.
    11. Tsurumi, Tetsuya & Imauji, Atsushi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "Greenery and Subjective Well-being: Assessing the Monetary Value of Greenery by Type," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 152-169.
    12. Stefanie Kley & Tetiana Dovbishchuk, 2021. "How a Lack of Green in the Residential Environment Lowers the Life Satisfaction of City Dwellers and Increases Their Willingness to Relocate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, April.
    13. Yuan, Liang & Shin, Kongjoo & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Environmental Quality: The Impact of Air Pollution and Green Coverage in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 124-138.
    14. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    15. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    16. Welsch, Heinz & Ferreira, Susana, 2014. "Environment, Well-Being, and Experienced Preference," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(3-4), pages 205-239, December.
    17. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier B. & Giulietti, Corrado & Robalino, Juan D. & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2016. "Remittances and relative concerns in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 191-207.
    18. Daniel Kuehnle & Christoph Wunder, 2016. "Using the Life Satisfaction Approach to Value Daylight Savings Time Transitions: Evidence from Britain and Germany," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2293-2323, December.
    19. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Public Greenspace and Life Satisfaction in Urban Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(6), pages 1290-1321, May.
    20. Matthew D Rablen, 2012. "The promotion of local wellbeing: A primer for policymakers," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(3), pages 297-314, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3211-:d:517150. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.