In 2003—04, the Cheong Gye Cheon elevated freeway in Seoul, Korea, was torn down and replaced by an urban stream and linear park. This bold initiative aimed to enhance the quality of central-city living by replacing a mobility asset that was also a nuisance with an attractive urban amenity. This research analyses the impacts of the freeway-to-greenway conversion on commercial and residential property values using multilevel hedonic price models. Specifically, for non-residential uses, it was found that there were land value premiums for parcels within 500 metres of the corridor for both the former freeway and the present-day urban greenway. However, premiums were notably higher for parcels within the 500-metre walkshed of the urban greenway entrance points than the freeway on-ramps. It is concluded that Seoul’s unique freeway disinvestment/greenway investment conferred net benefits to both residential and non-residential land markets.
Bus rapid transit (BRT) has been a promising form of public transportation due to a higher burden of rail transit construction and operation. Many urban economists and planners argue that convenient public transit is one of the core urban strategies to attract and retain creative industries and increase employment density. Although many leaders of cities in the world pay attention to the new type of public transit, we have less understanding of the BRT impact on the location choice of creative industries and job density. Through multilevel modeling, this study tests whether BRT improvement in Seoul, Korea was appealing to the spatial patterns of creative industries and if it changed the spatial variation of employment density. This study confirms that the BRT system is the favorable component for the location of creative industries and service sectors within 500 meters of BRT-bus stops. In addition, the BRT operation increases the employment density within the same distance to the bus stops by 54%. The key findings suggest that enhancing the public transit system would be an effective strategy for higher competitiveness in the urban economy and compact urban shdure.
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