Urban Green infrastructures: How much did they affect property prices in Singapore?

Abstract

In 2015, 17 Sustainable Development Goals were outlined within the 2030 Agenda by the United Nations. Objective 11.7 aims to provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces, highlighting the strategic role of these areas in cities. In the international literature, the theory of Ecosystem Services (ESs) has been developed to raise public awareness of the need to preserve biodiversity, enhance community cohesion, civic identity, and quality of life. In this study, we explored the economic value of Singapore's Urban Green Infrastructures (UGI) by investigating the private condominium and apartment unit market through the Hedonic Pricing Method (HPM). The HPM was integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatialize housing units, measure the distance of different green spaces, and consider the dependence effects among housing unit transactions. The results highlighted a positive effect on values of the proximity to the natural green areas, as well as to the regional, city parks, and small nature areas. The annual benefits of UGIs on households within 800 m range from 10,305,275 USD for nature areas to 59,723,703 USD for the city parks and 74,011,689 USD for the regional parks. Estimates showed the small contribution of park connectors (PCN) and neighborhood parks. The HPM results are a useful aid to understanding the amenity value of UGIs. The modeling outcomes could be used to inform policymakers and municipal green managers about UGIs preservation and new allocation starting from households’ preferences.