VALUING THE “GREEN” AMENITIES IN A SPATIAL CONTEXT

type="main"> <title type="main">ABSTRACT</title> <p>Despite extensive public infrastructure spending, little is known about the benefits of access to “green amenities” like parks within cities. This paper uses spatial econometric methods to estimate the value of proximity to parks using land markets in a Chinese megacity. Our research design captures mechanisms of spatial interaction effects and highlights the importance of avoiding the biases inherent in the traditional valuation approach. Our results suggest that land adjacent to parks is significantly valued by land developers and that these valuations are not distributed evenly over space. Our evidence provides support for considering locations in explaining the amenity value differentials that are grounded in the social, economic, and local contextual forces at stake.