Neighborhood Walkability and Housing Prices: A Correlation Study

Eun Jung Kim,Hyunjung Kim

doi:10.3390/su12020593

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between the level of walkability and housing prices in Seoul, Korea. The average transaction price per square meter for each apartment complex was set as a dependent variable and the walkability score was used as an independent variable. This study divided a total of 5986 apartment complexes into areas with high and low housing prices for analysis. Based on the strong spatial autocorrelations of housing prices, this study employed spatial regression models in addition to the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model. Results showed that housing prices positively correlated with the walkability score in areas with low housing prices, whereas no significant association was observed in areas with high housing prices. Additional findings showed that housing prices were associated with building age (−), number of households in the complex (+), slope (−), and greenness (+) in both subsamples. Results also showed that high school quality had a different association with housing prices depending on the subsample (e.g., the sign was positive in areas with high housing prices and no significance in areas with low housing prices). The results herein support public policy proposals relevant to urban planning, environmental design, and housing policies.

Highlights

Walkable environments correlate with increased walking, biking, and physical activity [1,2,3], a reduction in diseases, and an improvement in overall health [4,5,6,7]
Based on the dataset in Seoul (N = 44,000), the walkability score value closest to the apartment complex was taken as its walkability score at the corresponding apartment complex
The level of walkability and the built environmental correlated with housing price are synthetically summarized again as follows

Summary

Introduction

Walkable environments correlate with increased walking, biking, and physical activity [1,2,3], a reduction in diseases, and an improvement in overall health [4,5,6,7]. In 2016, the city of Seoul implemented a project called “Walkable City, Seoul” to improve Seoul’s pedestrian environment and its citizens’ quality of life. To launch this project, the city of Seoul suggested the slogan, “Good bye Car, Good day Seoul” and implemented four policy directions, including “Possible to walk”, “Easy to walk”, “Want to walk”, and “Walk together” [16]. Before “Walkable City, Seoul” was launched, Seoul had made significant efforts to create a pedestrian-friendly environment, and perhaps as a result of that, the health behavior of Seoul citizens has increased over the past decade. According to the Community Health Survey, the rate of walking has increased from 57.3% (2008) to 61.5% (2017), while the rate of moderate to vigorous physical activity has increased from 19.1% (2009) to 22.2% (2017) over the last decade [17]

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