Can nearby open spaces substitute for the size of a property owner's private yard?

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the marginal value of several types of open space in a single family residential market. It also aims to test the hypothesis that locating closer to open spaces might be a substitute for the size of a homeowner's own yard. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from Wake County, North Carolina in the US hedonic modeling is used to estimate the house price as a function of the quantities of a property's characteristics, including the property's access to different types of open spaces, property structural features, public services, disamenity features, neighborhood socio‐economic characteristics, and accessibility measures. Findings – The findings were that housing prices increase with a property's proximity to certain types of open land uses, and that the size of those nearby open spaces also impacts home price. More importantly, the findings concluded that the value of being adjacent to public open spaces, having more public open spaces within walking distance of the property, and being closer to the nearest open space is greater for properties with smaller private yards. Originality/value – This paper explicitly tests the relationship between yard size and the proximity value of various types of open spaces. The paper also discusses the implications of the research findings for land use planning and smart growth development.