Abstract
Nature is essential to urban quality of life, yet green spaces are under pressure. In an attempt to strengthen the case for urban greening and to reclaim nature into cities, this research considered green spaces from an economic spatial perspective. The proximity principle, as part of hedonic price analysis, is employed to determine the impact of green spaces on property value in specifically selected residential areas within Potchefstroom, South Africa. Our statistical analysis indicated a rejection of the proximity principle in some areas, contradicting internationally accepted theory. To investigate local trends and possible reasons for the rejection, supporting quantitative data was gathered through structured questionnaires disseminated to local residents of Potchefstroom and Professional Planners in South Africa. Challenges pertaining to the planning of green spaces were emphasised, despite residents’ willingness to pay more for such green spaces in close proximity to residential areas, according to the cross-tabulations conducted. The research results contributed to the discourse on the economic benefits of green spaces and presented the trends of such benefits within the local context of Potchefstroom. The results emphasised the need to rethink the planning of green spaces within the local context, and provided recommendations on how to reclaim nature into cities from a spatial planning perspective.
Highlights
Urban development often occurs at the expense of urban green spaces (UGSs), separating urbanites from nature [1] and depriving them of the various social and environmental benefits, known as ecosystem services, that UGSs provide [2,3,4]
The 2019 study was further substantiated with supporting quantitative data collected through two structured questionnaires capturing perceptions amongst a sample of Potchefstroom residents pertaining to green space values; and a questionnaire distributed amongst Professional Planners in South Africa regarding green space planning in the local context (See Section 2.2)
The results obtained from the survey indicated that the sample of Potchefstroom residents recognise the social, environmental and economic value of green spaces; fewer residents recognise the economic value of green spaces
Summary
Urban development often occurs at the expense of urban green spaces (UGSs), separating urbanites from nature [1] and depriving them of the various social and environmental benefits, known as ecosystem services, that UGSs provide [2,3,4]. These benefits are often much more difficult to measure, generally leading to a preference for land uses with an explicit monetary value, including commercial and residential development, above UGSs in property development decisions [5]. Various studies have been conducted using different techniques and methods to quantify the potential economic benefits of UGSs with the majority of these studies focusing on the contexts of the global North [6,7,8,9,10]. The majority of studies in the global North confirmed the proximity principle [8,10], whereas in the global South results have been less conclusive. The current paper returned to the 2015 case study to verify, update
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