Environmental Identity and Community Support for the Preservation of Open Space
Abstract
The preservation of open space, preserved or minimally developed stretches of land, is a pressing issue facing many United States’ communities. This paper examines one United States township’s attempts to preserve open space. Most residents surveyed (96 percent) approved of preserving open space, and most homeowners (73 percent) were willing to pay increased property taxes for preservation. Strong identification with nature and the township were associated with willingness to pay higher taxes. Respondents also rated the importance of qualities afforded by preserving open space. Valuing qualities of open spaces related to preserving its present state (e.g., preserving ecology and historical places) and following already established plans mediated relations between residents’ identification with nature and the township and their willingness to pay to preserve open space. Qualities that increase human access to the space (e.g., recreation and accessibility) did not show the same mediational relations. These results suggest that psychological identification with nature and the community play important roles in pro-environmental support. Both the practical and theoretical contributions of this research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Swim, J. K., Zawadzki, S. J., Cundiff, J. L., & Lord, B. (2014). Environmental Identity and Community Support for the Preservation of Open Space. Human Ecology Review, 20(2), pp. 133-155. Society for Human Ecology.
Department(s)
Psychological Science
Keywords and Phrases
Applied Research, Environmental Identity, Open Space, Place Identity, Willingness to Pay
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1074-4827
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2014 Society for Human Ecology, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2014