We apply a hedonic model to the Geneva-Switzerland rental market to assess the value of view from dwellings and of land uses around buildings. Using a geographic information system, we calculate three-dimensional view variables, accessibility and land use variables. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to develop precise view measures at the dwelling level, considering surrounding land uses, in an urban context and with a large sample of 13,000 observations. The results show that view of various environmental amenities and its size has a significant impact on rents. The estimated rent premium for a dwelling located in a neighbourhood with an extended surface of water can be as high as 3 percent, and a view of water-covered area can raise rent up to 57 percent. JEL classification: Q5, R14, R52, R31, D62

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright

We apply the hedonic model to the Geneva-Switzerland rental market, in order to assess the value of view and landscape use. In that purpose, we construct a large database of about 10 500 observations containing dwellings structural characteristics and combine it with environmental variables on noise and local air pollution exposure. Then, we make use of the Geneva geographic information system (GIS), in order to define landscape uses and patterns in the neighbourhood of the buildings. Finally, we define several variables in order to quantify the view at the dwelling level. We find that accessibility to various environmental amenities, landscape use and size, as well as view on them have a statistically significant impact on rents. In particular, the size and the view on the natural environment increase rents, while they lower rents in the case of the built environment. We also find that diversity in landscape uses in the building neighbourhood has a negative impact on rents, while possessing a diverse view from the dwelling increases rents.

No abstract

No abstract