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Preservation of Open Space and the Concept of Value *
Author(s) -
Berry David
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1976.tb02985.x
Subject(s) - recreation , space (punctuation) , contemplation , value (mathematics) , function (biology) , set (abstract data type) , public space , computer science , sociology , epistemology , mathematics , political science , architectural engineering , law , philosophy , engineering , statistics , evolutionary biology , biology , programming language , operating system
A bstract . This paper identifies and classifies six major kinds of values which people ascribe to areas of open space (utility, functional, contemplative, aesthetic, recreational, and ecological values), whether the open space is public or private, urban or rural, or large or small. These values are predominantly culturally‐shaped attitudes. They are not mutually exclusive but nonetheless cannot be subsumed under just one notion of value such as trade‐offs and, consequently, models for evaluating open space based on the familiar utility function are inadequate representations of human reasoning. Public policy concerned with preserving open space must incorporate a multidimensional set of noncommensurate values and one paradigm for doing so is discussed.