Locational and socio-economic factors in determining willingness-to-accept for coastal development in Sungai Papan, Johor

Abstract

Sustainable approach in developing the coastal developments is very important. A study was conducted to predict the relationship between locational and socio-economic aspects on perceptions of impact of surrounding development, as well as willingness to accept (WTA) future development in Johor, particularly the proposed coastal project within Sungai Lebam catchment area, the location of this study. Ten different villages within 5km radius of the upcoming development were randomly selected with 300 respondents interviewed. The data was analysed using crosstab, bivariate and linear regression analyses of the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study found that most respondents were willing to accept the proposed coastal development. However, WTA varied according to perceived opinions on potential impacts of development and socio-economic background of respondents. Respondents were willing to accept due to their perceived positive future values of the development in improving their economic and occupational status as well as infrastructure in the area. However, the respondents’ reluctance to accept the development was based on negative perceived views of coastal development that could negatively affecting their psychological well-being and environmental conditions in general. Higher income individuals were more likely to accept the development, whereas those with lower academic and formal education where more critical about it (p<0.01) (i.e., significant at 99% confident level). The results indicated that locational factors did not affect WTA.