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Consumer demand for green stormwater management technology in an urban setting: The case of Chicago rain barrels
Author(s) -
Ando Amy W.,
Freitas Luiz P. C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2011wr011070
Subject(s) - business , storm , stormwater , subsidy , environmental planning , urbanization , flooding (psychology) , zoning , flood myth , metropolitan area , water resource management , agricultural economics , geography , environmental science , surface runoff , economic growth , economics , civil engineering , meteorology , engineering , ecology , biology , psychology , archaeology , market economy , psychotherapist
Hydrological disruption and water pollution from urbanization can be reduced if households in urban areas adopt decentralized storm water controls. We study a citywide municipal subsidized rain‐barrel program in the third biggest city in the United States, Chicago, to explore what factors influence whether households purchase this sort of green storm water management technology in an urban setting. Specifically, we regress census‐tract level data on the number of rain barrels adopted in different parts of the city on socioeconomic variables, data on local flood frequency, and features of the housing stock. We find that rain‐barrel purchases are not correlated with local levels of flooding, even though city residents were told by program managers that rain barrels could alleviate local flooding. Instead, rain barrels are heavily concentrated in places with high‐income attitudinally green populations. We do find more rain barrels were adopted in places close to rain‐barrel distribution points and near sites of hydrological information campaigns; thus, policy makers might increase green‐technology adoption in areas where they can do the most good by reducing transaction costs and providing education programs to those areas. Finally, our results indicate that owner occupancy is positively correlated with green‐technology adoption. Low‐rise rental housing may have inefficiently low levels of adoption, such that city managers might want to develop programs to encourage storm water management investments by landlords who do not live in their own properties.