Original articleWhat factors influence the value of an urban park within a medium-sized French conurbation?

- Factors of visiting a park in a medium-sized town have been explored.
- Age and sports events determine the value attributed to an urban park by users.
- Nature is preferred to sports events in the probability of willingness to pay.
- Positive relationship between the probability of WTP and age increase.

Urban parks are an important element of the urban green infrastructure. The urban park Parc des Moulins, is one of the largest green areas on the edge of the Troyes conurbation. We developed and conducted survey for the park users with the objective to determine the factors influencing the probability of park users' willingness to pay (WTP) to enjoy an urban park in a medium-sized conurbation in the French context. To obtain a quick glance at how local governments and city planners see the benefits of parks, we developed an additional questionnaire.Given that our Logit model has a 5% margin of error, visit frequency and age positively influence the probability of WTP to enjoy the park. It also shows that the probability of WTP is lower when people come to enjoy the natural surroundings. A similar conclusion can be drawn when they come on foot rather than by vehicle. Moreover, the Tobit model suggests that age and sports events are the only determinants of the amount users are willing to pay.