Open Journal of Political Science 2013. Vol.3, No.4, 134-142 Published Online October 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojps) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojps.2013.34019 Public Policy Making in the Coastal Zone of the Venice Lagoon: Is There a Good Balance between Economic Development, the Social Dimension and Environmental Protection? Maria Sabrina De Gobbi* University of London, London, UK Email:
[email protected] Received July 22nd, 2013; revised August 26th, 2013; accepted September 15th, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Maria Sabrina De Gobbi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Com- mons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro- vided the original work is properly cited. This paper shows how much citizens’ views are taken into account in local policy decision-making con- cerning the management of the coastal area of the Venice Lagoon. Through the application of a somewhat innovative version of the contingent valuation method (CVM), it is possible to understand how to set a good balance among economic development, the social dimension and environmental protection in a coastal zone. The methodology allows for a clear assessment of the economic value of non-use values. In 2010, an online survey was conducted in the Venice area to find out how local much citizens value two protected areas in the Venice Lagoon. Four hypotheses were tested to find out whether the age of respon- dents, the municipality where they live, their income level, and the visited and protected sites are factors determining a different willingness to pay for environmental protection.