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Proximity to transportation infrastructure (highways and public transit) influences residential real estate values. Housing values also are influenced by propinquity to a shopping facility or a recreational amenity. Spatial autoregressive (SAR) models were used to estimate the impact of locational elements on the price of residential properties sold during 1995 in the Greater Toronto Area. A large data set consisting of 27,400 freehold sales was used in the study. Moran’s I was estimated to determine the effects of spatial autocorrelation that existed in housing values. SAR models, using a combination of locational influences, neighborhood characteristics, and structural attributes, explained 83 percent variance in housing values. Using the “comparable sales approach,” a spatiotemporal lag variable was estimated for every property in the database. This research discovered that SAR models offered a better fit than nonspatial models. This study also discovered that in the presence of other explanatory variables, locational and transportation factors were not strong determinants of housing values. On the other hand, the number of washrooms and the average household income in a neighborhood were found to be significant determinants of housing values. Stepwise regression techniques were used to determine reduced spatial hedonic models.

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The state of municipal services and infrastructure has deteriorated in Pakistan over the years. With the rapid increase in urbanization in Pakistan the need for effective and efficient local governments is felt more now than ever. The checkered history of local government initiatives in the country has contributed to the poor state of municipal service delivery. The military regimes, in the past, used local governments to create a loyal cadre of politicians who the military later pitted against the democratic forces. With the return of civilian democratic rule in Pakistan, the local governments were often abolished because these institutions were viewed as part and parcel of the military dictatorships. The tug-of-war between the democratic governments and military regimes has left Pakistan with an inadequate local government framework. The challenge for the democratic forces in Pakistan is to realize the importance of local governments and there-fore to take steps to offer them constitutional cover. Failing to do so may lead to further deterioration of urban and rural environments.