Bioculturally valuable but not necessarily worth the price: Integrating different dimensions of value of urban green spaces

Abstract

The social processes that took place in the past left a mark not only on cultural heritage but also on ecosystems and biodiversity, which is now depicted in the concept of biocultural diversity. The related “biocultural value” represents yet another dimension of the value of urban green spaces which we attempt to integrate into monetary valuation with the use of hedonic pricing. We compare the impacts of different green spaces on property prices in Łódź, Poland, differentiating green spaces based on their biocultural value. Furthermore, we use quantile regression and analyze the heterogeneity of estimates according to the price of the apartment. Our study indicates that while there is a general desire to live close to the green space, biocultural value does not translate into any positive impact on property prices.