A hedonic valuation of urban green areas

This paper analyses the link between housing prices and urban green areas endowments using the hedonic technique as methodological approach. Together with the conventional variables used to explain housing prices, three environmental variables are considered: the existence of views of a park or a public garden, the distance from the dwelling to its nearest green area and the size of that open space. The sample is made up of 810 observations gathered from the city of Castellon (Spain). Results show housing size to be the most relevant variable on price. As far as the hedonic variables are concerned, there is an inverse relationship between the selling price of the dwelling and its distance from a green urban area. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.