Quantification of economic benefits of multifunctional land use – An empirical analysis among employees

Abstract

The concept of multifunctional land use aims to concentrate and combine several socio-economic functions in the same area, so as to save scarce space and to exploit synergies. However, despite its positive aspects, the realisation of multifunctional land use is often not easy, due to financial restrictions and potential adverse spatial effects. This paper aims to quantify specific synergy benefits of multifunctional land use projects that are most often not quantified in Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBAs) due to the fact that they are difficult to quantify with the techniques and time available. We employ Stated Preference techniques to obtain more information about the willingness to pay (WTP) of office employees for a multifunctional design of their working environment, such as the South Axis area in Amsterdam. Our data is based on a questionnaire in which we asked for employee’s preferences for the design of a multifunctional area and the value they attribute to it. In this way, we show possibilities for quantification of synergy benefits, in order to make future CBAs more complete.