| Open spaces offer communities a multitude of benefits that, though highly intuitive and easily described, are much harder to quantify. Yet, public parks departments are increasingly being evaluated in terms of their dollar contributions to communities. In addition, private open spaces are being subjected to ever-rising development pressures. Formulation of a method enabling assignation of monetary values to the public benefits of open spaces, whether through their use or their mere existence, is essential.; One way of measuring the economic value of open spaces to a community is through their impacts on surrounding property values. This approach assumes that the benefits of open space proximity are capitalized into property prices such that homebuyers are willing to pay premiums for locations offering easy physical and/or visual access to open spaces and the benefits they provide. Previous research into this issue is limited, by the low number of investigations, the range of methods employed (which has severely limited comparability), and by these methods' often simplistic nature.; In this study, the hedonic price modeling approach, developed by economists and based on analysis of house prices using multiple regression procedures, was applied to a series of open spaces in central Texas. The values of both access to, and views of a greenbelt, several neighborhood parks, and a golf course were investigated; measurement of these characteristics was facilitated by the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques.; Results suggested the most substantial impacts on property prices were caused by adjacency to a golf course; the premium for such a location ranged from {dollar}61,000 to {dollar}73,500 (16% to 19% of value), depending upon model specification. Adjacency to a greenbelt also had a significant, positive impact on property prices in two of three cases; premiums ranged from {dollar}13,000 to {dollar}48,000 (5% to 13% of total value). Impacts of proximity on prices varied with the measurement of distance used. While adding to the body of evidence with respect to the positive economic benefits of open spaces, the study also highlighted many as yet under-investigated issues. |
