WWL4.2
Improved Neighbourhood Environment
Where we live
Neighbourhood
Improved Neighbourhood Environment
Where people reside significantly influences their overall well-being and quality of life. Improving the neighbourhood environment refers to enhancing the physical, social, and cultural aspects of a local area to create a more pleasant and supportive living space for residents. This value focuses on improving physical neighbourhood environment.
Key Value
A monetised social value of £300
Monetised social value of an improvement of all local environmental factors per person per year.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) commissioned a research study in 2013 to evaluate the importance and value of various local environmental factors. The study aimed to assess the importance and value of various local environmental factors.
The research conducted a survey involving 561 members of the public to evaluate the significance of various attributes related to the local environment. Participants provided insights on the current state of local environmental factors and expressed their willingness to pay for improvements in each of these areas.
The table below shows the result of this study. Second column indicates the values that an individual would be willing to pay in additional council tax per person per month to improve that factor by one unit on a ten-point scale from worst to best. These estimates were then converted into yearly values, considering inflation adjustments since the study was conducted in 2013.
| The local environmental factors | Willingness to pay for an improvement per person | ||
| Per month in 2013 prices | Per year in 2013 prices | Per year in 2023 prices | |
| Litter | £3.95 | £47.4 | £62 |
| Fly-tipping | £3.71 | £44.52 | £58 |
| Trees | £2.33 | £27.96 | £36 |
| Chewing Gum | £2.17 | £26.04 | £34 |
| Odour | £2.33 | £27.96 | £36 |
| Dog Fouling | £1.89 | £22.68 | £30 |
| Quiet Areas | £1.37 | £16.44 | £21 |
| Light Pollution | £0.63 | £7.56 | £10 |
| Graffiti | £0.56 | £6.72 | £9 |
| Light Intrusion | £0.34 | £4.08 | £5 |
| Total | £302 | ||
Headline value: We have taken the sum of the value for each of the local environmental factors which is rounded to £300 per person per year.
If you’re just starting out, start with Bronze first. The result of a Bronze measurement is just an estimate, but requires the least effort; whereas Silver, Gold and Gold+ give more accurate results but require more effort.
Each level has an effort to accuracy indicator, choose the one that’s right for you.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Multiply the number of the residents you expect to improve the local environment by £300.
If you are unable to capture information about improved factors, because you’re unable to contact residents, or this is a plan for a future project, then you can use this value as a proxy for improving the local environment.
Here’s an example
Suppose a local authority plans to organize a community cleanup event. They expect 50 individuals to be actively affected by the local environment.
The monetised social value can be calculated as follows: 50×£300=£15,000
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Monetised social value: Consider realistically what factors you will be able to improve. Therefore, you can calculate a more accurate value of the improved neighborhood environment.
Consider which factors are in place in the neighbourhood you are supporting. Then consider which factors you might realistically be able to improve. You can calculate a more accurate estimate of the saving with more information.
Here’s an example
Suppose you plan to improve a local park. Here are the relevant factors that will be improved:
- Litter: The park currently has litter scattered around. (£62)
- Trees: The park lacks greenery and shade. (£36)
- Chewing Gum: Gum is stuck to benches and pathways. (£34)
- Odour: There is an unpleasant smell near the trash bins. (£36)
- Dog Fouling: Dog waste is a common issue. (£30)
- Quiet Areas: The park lacks peaceful spots. (£21)
Summing the monetised values for the factors (62+36+34+36+30+21=) £219 per person per year.
Let’s assume that 100 people live near this local park so the total monetised social value is £219*100= £21,900
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Measure actual amounts of difference that improved neighbourhood environment makes to people’s lives.
You should use a survey to directly understand the issues in the neighborhood you’re supporting, and to understand which factors have been improved. In this case the comparison group could be ‘before’ the intervention and the treatment group be ‘after’ your intervention. To measure the factors that affect the neighbourhood environment, you can ask the following questions based on “Estimating the value of a range of local environmental factors – NO0230” report in Appendix D. Please note that we adopted the questions for the purpose of measuring neighbourhood environment and the necessary photographs/images can be found in the report.
“We would now like you to consider the various local environmental factors that have just been shown to you and identify which situation best describes the current situation you experience”
- Please rate the level of DISCARDED CHEWING GUM in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please rate the level of LITTER in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please rate the presence of TREES in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please rate the level of FLY-TIPPING in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please rate the level of GRAFFITI in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please rate the level of FLY-POSTING in your local environment by choosing one of image:
- Please choose access to QUIET AREAS in your local environment: “No quiet areas around here, Quiet area within 15 minutes walk of home, Quiet area within 10 minutes walk of home, Quiet area within 5 minutes walk of home, Quiet area within a 1 minute walk of home”
- Please choose the levels of DOG FOULING occurrence in your local environment: “Always dog mess in view, Every minute when walking, Every 5 minutes or so when walking, Every 15 minutes or so when walking, Never or very rarely”
- Please choose the levels of ODOUR in your local environment: “Bad smells all the time, Bad smells occur weekly, Bad smells occur every month or so, Bad smells occur once or twice a year, No bad smells”
- Please choose the level of LIGHT INTRUSION at night in your local environment: “Light intrusion that affects my sleep or that of someone else in my household, Light intrusion that I can’t block out with heavy curtains but doesn’t affect my sleep, Light intrusion into my home that I can block out with heavy curtains, No light intrusion from any source”
- Please choose the level of LIGHT POLLUTION at night in your local environment: “On a clear night I can’t see any stars, On a clear night I can see some stars, On a clear night I can see many stars”
For more information please visit Gold: Surveys and measurements of actual results.
Support in developing your Gold survey approach is available through the Measure Up partners, so please do reach out to Impact, State of Life or PRD.
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Gold+ level, you are building on your Gold value calculation by assessing the value against the counterfactual, or ‘what would have happened anyway’.
To do this you should identify a control group suitable to assess in line with your intervention, in order to more accurately attribute any changes to your intervention.
You could also consider any other discount or causality elements linked to your job creation activity.
Support in developing your Gold+ counterfactual, causality and discount approach is available through the Measure Up partners, so please do reach out to Impact, State of Life or PRD.
| Value Type: | Outcome |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value due to a mix of outcomes of varying amounts they may create. |
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| UN SDG Categories: |
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What's this?
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| PN06/20 Categories: |
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What's this?
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Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeking consent from one or more participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music, etc from creative interventions) can add more colour, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having.
