Abstract
River revitalization, also called river restoration, has been implemented globally to restore urban river ecosystems that would benefit both the environment and local residents in various ways. The Hong Kong government has been attempting to revitalize local urban rivers; however, the perception and value of river restoration have not been assessed. With the application of a contingent valuation method, a questionnaire survey was designed to capture the attitude, place attachment, and willingness to pay (WTP) of Hong Kong residents in the context of urban rivers and river revitalization, and a proposed scenario for revitalization is given. The relationships among WTP, attitude and place attachment were explored through regression analysis. A total of 400 questionnaire samples were collected from Hong Kong residents, and over 75% of respondents were willing to pay for the proposed scenario. The results from regression analysis indicated that attitude, place dependence, place identity, and place social bonding positively influenced WTP and WTP bid amounts. In contrast, the place effect was unexpectedly found to be negatively correlated with WTP. Implications were drawn from these results, and recommendations were made concerning the features to be restored and conserved in future river revitalization work and the need to provide quality urban nature-based spaces for citizens.
Highlights
Like most governments around the world, the Hong Kong government has implemented river management and modification work, primarily for urbanization and flood control, since the 1960s [1]
The first part of the questionnaire gauged the attitude of respondents toward river restoration and their level of place attachment associated with urban rivers in Hong Kong
This study explored the association between the attitude and place attachment of Hong Kong residents regarding rivers and river revitalization and their willingness to pay for revitalization
Summary
Like most governments around the world, the Hong Kong government has implemented river management and modification work, primarily for urbanization and flood control, since the 1960s [1]. The modification measures mainly include channelizing, straightening, widening, deepening and diverting natural river courses [1]. While such measures have been successful in flood prevention, they are implemented at the expense of the environmental, ecological, social, and cultural functions of rivers. The practice and concept of urban river restoration, called revitalization or rehabilitation (usually termed revitalization in Hong Kong), can be traced back to the early 20th century where rivers were restored mainly for recreational purposes to improve fishing experiences by altering the channel forms and morphology to create favourable habitats for fish [5].
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