The Value of Urban Green Spaces: Evidence from the Housing Market

About the Research

This study explores the economic value of urban parks, by analysing their impact on housing prices in Tehran, Iran. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatialize housing units, and measure the distance of nearest park to residential properties, we examine how park characteristics, such as size and the socioeconomic status of homeowners in affluent versus less affluent regions, influence their willingness to pay for proximity to parks. To address potential endogeneity issues, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences approach, treating houses near parks as the treated group and those farther away as the control group. Our findings indicate that park proximity leads to a 1.4% to 2.3% increase in property values in affluent neighbourhoods, while houses in less affluent areas experience a decrease of 2.2% to 4.3%. This disparity highlights important policy implications for land development and the need for more inclusive planning strategies.

About Layla Shiva

Layla is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Tehran Institute for Advanced Studies, Khatam University. Previously, she worked as a scientist on the forecasting team within the Science and Research division at PROS, Texas. She holds a Ph.D. and a Master's degree in Economics from Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on environmental economics and the economics of climate change, and she has published several papers in these fields.