Urban green spaces and housing prices in developing countries: A Two-stage quantile spatial regression analysis

Abstract

Urban Green Spaces (UGS) provide various environmental benefits to nature and are essential for people's overall well-being. UGS regulate temperature and humidity, absorb pollutants, and reduce soil erosion. Also, they improve the emotional and physical well-being of people and increase the environmental awareness of citizens. Due to its great importance, various studies have sought to economically quantify its value through the housing market. However, the households' heterogeneity and the vegetation index of the UGS have not been analyzed together. In this study, we show that a developing country's population values the UGS (economically). Still, that valuation depends on the housing submarket and the interaction between “distance” and vegetation index. For example, for small parks, the interaction between “distance” and vegetation index is significant only in the highest and lowest conditional quantiles. For medium and large parks, the interaction is significant only from the 50th and 30th percentiles, respectively. On the other hand, for small, medium, and large forests, the interactive variable is significant starting from the 50th, 70th, and 80th percentiles, respectively. We, also make recommendations for public policy.