Forest Park Visitors Opinions and Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Development of the Germia Forest and Recreational Park

Abstract

The study addresses sustainable development in the forest and recreational park of Germia in the Capital City of Kosovo. The park serves the residents and other visitors’ socioeconomic and environmental needs, such as leisure, sports, meditation, and biodiversity and ecological roles. Sustainable management and the development of natural resources are a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their own needs. The study used the contingent valuation method to assess willingness to pay for the sustainable management and development of Germia forest and recreational park, given the values it serves the people. The study surveyed 208 respondents about their opinions on the willingness to pay for the sustainable management and development of the forest and recreational park. The results showed that 56% were willing to pay for recreational services, while 44% were against it because they were not satisfied with the park’s services. The majority (62%) were also willing to pay for this service in tax from their salaries. This showed that an average percentage of people were willing to pay for the sustainable management and development of the forest and recreational park. Therefore, this study serves as a basis for future similar studies and policy decisions for park development.

Forest Recreational Services in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic Stress

“…The lower number of forest visitors in 2016 could be associated with other factors, such as socioeconomic characteristics and or climate. These factors could be studied in-depth to get to the gist of the discussion [66][67][68][69][70][71][72].…”

Smart Cities Landscape and Urban Planning for Sustainability in Brno City

“…We strongly conclude that even though Brno city still struggles to achieve total sustainability, it is still a model and reflection of a smart and sustainable city. From infrastructure development, technology, and the green spaces and nature in and around the city, one would appreciate the efforts to balance infrastructure development, technology, and nature to benefit the people and environment [61][62][63][64][78][79][80][81][82][83]. Such an integrated approach and conceptualization could inform policy making and practice that can achieve smart city and sustainability [78][79][80][81].…”

“…Nevertheless, an analysis of the literature on the subject by Bhosale et al [7] indicates that the scope of research on S.C. goes beyond the technological aspect itself, especially concerning Europe. The subject matter of these scientific works considers a more holistic interpretation of smart cities, emphasizing that their development depends on the balance between human, economic, social, cultural, environmental, and technological factors [22,44,[61][62][63][64][78][79][80][81][82][83]. Smart cities are gradually becoming our reality.…”

“…Moreover, it is argued that the goal of smart cities is to achieve good quality of life of the people and sustainability of their neighborhoods. This is the ultimate goal of urban utilities in long run [22,44,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86].…”

“…Even though most studies emphasize smart technology [22,44,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86], Bamwesigye and Hlavackova [22] and Yigitcanlar et al [78] put emphasis on smart people and their welfare as well as the environmental sustainability. Yigitcanlar et al [78] concluded that smart cities conceptualizations should be linked to achieve desired sustainable practices for efficient improvement of all aspects of smart city.…”