Comprehensive evaluation of urban greenspace ecological values marketability through the spatial relationship between housing price and ecosystem services

Urban greenspace provides a variety of ecosystem services. A reasonable evaluation of such services, both from an environmental and from an economic point of view, can deliver a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of urban greenspace value and might be helpful for possible future market transactions. There seems to be a spatial correlation between housing price and ecosystem services. The hedonic price model takes into account also the greenspace around the residences. This study proposed a methodological framework combining the emergy accounting method and statistical model, taking Beijing as a case study. The relationship between housing prices and ecosystem services is explored, and the different types of urban ecosystem service are evaluated, taking into account the heterogeneity of different size, distance and perception of greenspaces. Ecological thermodynamics was applied to the housing price characteristic model, accounting for the ecological value embedded in the housing price, and provided a theoretical basis for the ecological value monetization evaluation and urban ecological planning. The results show that the improvement of each unit of ecosystem services value measured by means of the emergy accounting method will increase the housing price by 806.28 yuan per square meter. Small and micro parks have a more positive impact on housing prices than medium and large parks; The positive impact of grassland on housing price is greater than that of woodland, wetland and shrubs; Carbon sequestration has the largest positive impact on housing prices of other kind of ecosystem services. The methodological framework proposed in this study is helpful to further explore the ecosystem services provided by urban greenspace. The quantitative pricing results of different ecosystem services can be used as reference for relevant ecological trading and compensation policies. Qualitative analysis of parks and different ecosystems can provide value for urban greenspace planning.