Does money grow on trees? A study of five Swedish national parks using a GIS approach to analyse economic impact
(2023) EOSK12 20231Department of Economic History
- Abstract
- National parks are key parts of worldwide conservation initiatives. Increasingly, they are being founded not only to meet conservation goals but also because of their potential positive impact on regional economies. However, the results of previous research are ambiguous when it comes to assessing the magnitude of this effect and no such studies have been conducted for national parks in southern, central and western Sweden. This GIS-based study looks at five Swedish national parks (Fulufjället, Färnebofjärden, Kosterhavet, Söderåsen and Åsnen) and analyses business establishments in their vicinities over 30 years (1993 to 2022). This methodology demonstrates the utility of using GIS tools in tandem with business registers especially when... (More)
- National parks are key parts of worldwide conservation initiatives. Increasingly, they are being founded not only to meet conservation goals but also because of their potential positive impact on regional economies. However, the results of previous research are ambiguous when it comes to assessing the magnitude of this effect and no such studies have been conducted for national parks in southern, central and western Sweden. This GIS-based study looks at five Swedish national parks (Fulufjället, Färnebofjärden, Kosterhavet, Söderåsen and Åsnen) and analyses business establishments in their vicinities over 30 years (1993 to 2022). This methodology demonstrates the utility of using GIS tools in tandem with business registers especially when other data, such as visitor spending figures, is not available. The results show that three of the five studied national parks had positive economic impacts on surrounding areas after they were established. Many previous studies assume tourism to be the primary vector of economic development, but this thesis’ results suggest the contrary: national parks seem to impact all industry sectors, albeit unevenly. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Nationalparker utgör ett centralt element i naturvård runt hela jorden. Utöver naturvård så utgör tron på deras positiva effekt för regionalekonomisk utveckling en allt vanligare motivering för att grunda nya nationalparker. Forskningsläget kring omfattningen av sådana effekter är dock oklart och den ekonomiska effekten av nationalparker i Syd-, Väst, och Mellansverige har inte analyserats i någon större omfattning. Den här GIS-baserade studien tittar på fem svenska nationalparker (Fulufjället, Färnebofjärden, Kosterhavet, Söderåsen och Åsnen) och analyserar hur nyetableringen av företag i deras omedelbara närhet har sett ut under en 30-årsperiod (1993 till 2022). Metoden visar att det kan vara givande att kombinera GIS-verktyg med... (More)
- Nationalparker utgör ett centralt element i naturvård runt hela jorden. Utöver naturvård så utgör tron på deras positiva effekt för regionalekonomisk utveckling en allt vanligare motivering för att grunda nya nationalparker. Forskningsläget kring omfattningen av sådana effekter är dock oklart och den ekonomiska effekten av nationalparker i Syd-, Väst, och Mellansverige har inte analyserats i någon större omfattning. Den här GIS-baserade studien tittar på fem svenska nationalparker (Fulufjället, Färnebofjärden, Kosterhavet, Söderåsen och Åsnen) och analyserar hur nyetableringen av företag i deras omedelbara närhet har sett ut under en 30-årsperiod (1993 till 2022). Metoden visar att det kan vara givande att kombinera GIS-verktyg med företagsregister för att studera ekonomiska effekter, särskilt när annan data såsom besökarstatistik, saknas. Studien visar att i tre av fem fall så hade grundandet av en nationalpark en positiv ekonomisk effekt på omkringliggande områden. Resultatet är dock inte enhetligt i alla studerade områden, och gäller inte för alla verksamhetssektorer. Ofta antas att turistsektorn är den som främst påverkas när en nationalpark grundas, men den här studien visar att även många andra sektorer påverkas. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9134028
- author
- Gomola, Ondrej LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- EOSK12 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- national parks, economic impact, GIS, Sweden
- language
- English
- id
- 9134028
- date added to LUP
- 2023-08-14 11:20:15
- date last changed
- 2023-08-14 11:20:15
@misc{9134028,
abstract = {{National parks are key parts of worldwide conservation initiatives. Increasingly, they are being founded not only to meet conservation goals but also because of their potential positive impact on regional economies. However, the results of previous research are ambiguous when it comes to assessing the magnitude of this effect and no such studies have been conducted for national parks in southern, central and western Sweden. This GIS-based study looks at five Swedish national parks (Fulufjället, Färnebofjärden, Kosterhavet, Söderåsen and Åsnen) and analyses business establishments in their vicinities over 30 years (1993 to 2022). This methodology demonstrates the utility of using GIS tools in tandem with business registers especially when other data, such as visitor spending figures, is not available. The results show that three of the five studied national parks had positive economic impacts on surrounding areas after they were established. Many previous studies assume tourism to be the primary vector of economic development, but this thesis’ results suggest the contrary: national parks seem to impact all industry sectors, albeit unevenly.}},
author = {{Gomola, Ondrej}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Does money grow on trees? A study of five Swedish national parks using a GIS approach to analyse economic impact}},
year = {{2023}},
}