Assessing the benefits of reclaiming urban quarries: a CVM analysis

Rehabilitation of abandoned quarry sites could alleviate the effects of environmental dereliction and could meet the social demand for improvement of the quality of life in urban centers. Nevertheless, reclamation benefits are often overlooked in assessment procedures, since they are hard to estimate, at least in monetary terms. This paper examines the economic value of rehabilitation works, using an environmental economics framework. The survey is based on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), using as a case study an abandoned quarry site in the center of Athens, Greece. According to the estimates, recreation of the mined area produces an important economic value, which is associated with residents’ preferences. The results provide quantitative information that may be used in a beneficial way to justify environmental policy and to provide additional Government funding towards environmental treatment of derelict land.