The Nonmarket Benefits of Redeveloping Dockland Areas for Recreational Purposes: The Case of Castellón, Spain

As a consequence of the decline of central harbour sites and the relocation of port activities to the outskirts of cities, today waterfront redevelopment has become a key issue in the urban revitalisation policies of port cities. Although we are aware that city-port regeneration has strong links with the real estate market, our purpose here is very different. In particular, the contingent valuation method (CVM) has been applied in order to obtain the nonmarket benefits of the environmental and urban improvements derived from redeveloping some port-related areas for recreational and leisure purposes in the city of Castellón, Spain. To date, no previous study has attempted to apply this method to this policy issue. The result is that CVM provides useful information in this context, however, like any methodology, it has its limitations and it cannot provide a definitive answer to this policy issue. Finally, the estimated benefits are compared with the costs of the provision of such recreational and leisure facilities within a cost–benefit analysis framework, and the main finding is that benefits can plausibly exceed costs.