Seeing and being seen : a GIS-based hedonic price valuation of landscape
Abstract
We evaluate the hedonic price of landscape seen from houses in the urban fringe of Dijon (France). The viewshed and the land cover as seen from the ground are analyzed by geographic methods from satellite images and from a digital elevation model. Then, the landscape attributes are used in an econometric model based on the sales of 2523 houses. The results show that forests and farmland in the immediate vicinity of houses have positive prices and roads a negative price when these features can be seen by an observer located on the ground, while their prices are close to zero when they cannot be seen: the view itself matters. Seeing close houses is an amenity, but being seen from nearby other houses is a nuisance. The arrangement of features in fragmented landscapes commands positive hedonic prices. Landscapes and visible features more than 100-200 m away all have non-significant hedonic prices.