Hedonic price modelling is a widely used technique to explain the value of different types of individual property. Following the notion that areas within the city can suffer from devaluation the question arises what factors influence the value of urban areas. In this paper we use hedonic price analysis to answer this question for a specific type of urban area, the industrial site. We use the average property value per hectare as a representation of the value of an industrial site. Although there are many studies that try to explain the value of individual property, the value of industrial sites as urban areas remains under researched. A distinction is made between three types of explanatory variables: physical characteristics of the industrial site, regional economic characteristics and general economic trends. Our results show that 'mixed-use' sites -a third of all industrial sites in the Netherlands -show the lowest average property values. Specialisation in terms of the composition of firms located on an industrial site appears to have a positive influence on the average property value with specialised types of industrial sites, such as 'transport' and 'consumer services', showing significantly higher average property values. Furthermore, visibility from motorway and the region in which the industrial site is located (the economic core region Randstad showing the highest average values) also have a significant influence on the value of an industrial site. Although the overall explanatory value of our model appears to be modest compared to existing hedonic pricing studies of individual property, results show that most explanatory variables in our model have the expected coefficients and signs, indicating that this method can be applied in a meaningful way to gain insight into the valuation of urban areas.

Local economic development is a much used tool for the regeneration of urban areas. Although the designation and effectiveness of local economic development policies has been studied extensively in existing literature, the question as to whether these policies are aimed at the areas that are most in need of these policies remains relatively understudied. This question has been answered using the case of industrial sites in the Netherlands. This particular type of urban area in the Netherlands has experienced problems with rapid urban area decline and has therefore been targeted by various area-based regeneration initiatives for many years. The economic performance is the main justification for the designation of industrial sites that are in greater need of regeneration. However, another pertinent and unanswered question is: are the industrial sites targeted for regeneration really the ones that underperform economically? (Multinomial) logistic regression analysis is used to answer this question. Differences in economic performance, measured by the growth in employment figures, the number of companies and property values, between industrial sites that are targeted for regeneration in two different rounds of regeneration initiatives and non-targeted sites are studied. The analysis shows that the differences in economic performance are negligible between these groups. It indicates that other criteria, such as political and strategic decision making influence policymakers' decisions to target industrial sites for regeneration, thus making it at least doubtful that public money for the regeneration of industrial sites is being spent on what it is meant for.

Purpose -Urban decline is a much-researched topic in both urban and real estate literature. Yet, there is no generally accepted measurable indicator for decline. This paper starts to fill this void. The purpose of this paper is threefold: to better understand the process of decline of one particular urban area, industrial estates; based on that, to identify a possible indicator for decline; and to take a first step in the empirical testing of the suitability of this indicator. Design/methodology/approach -Building on a review of the literature on definitions of urban decline, and inspired by hedonic price models, the average property value per hectare is identified as a promising indicator for urban decline. Drawing on hedonic price studies explaining the value of individual industrial property, the paper subsequently distinguishes a number of independent variables likely to influence the average property value of an urban area. The paper uses a simple OLS regression to test whether the relation between these independent variables and average property value is in line with expectations. Findings -The analysis shows that nearly all independent variables have the expected effect on average property values of industrial estates. From this the authors conclude that constructing an indicator for decline based on the average property value of an urban area can prove fruitful to measure decline. Originality/value -The decline of industrial estates, as a particular type of urban area, has not received much attention in the international real estate literature. Furthermore, the identification of average property value as an indicator for the decline of urban areas is new.

No abstract

No abstract