EFFECTS OF URBAN GREEN SPACES ON HDB RESALE VALUE

Abstract

Green spaces have always been important elements of Singapore’s landscape since independence as they have a particular role to play in the society. As Singapore continues to strive for economic growth, these spaces would be under threat from urbanization pressures in view of land scarcity. It is only a matter of time before they are sacrificed unless we can enforce a quantifiable value on them so that urban planners can make effective cost-benefit analysis for Singapore’s future. This dissertation attempts to measure the economic value of green spaces through hedonic models and Difference-in-Difference (DID) experiments by investigating their effects on proximate public housing (HDB) resale price. The effects of green spaces on residential prices can vary dependent on the type of park, characteristics and externalities. In general, residents are willing to pay almost 9% premium on average to stay 1km closer to a park. Further dissecting green spaces into ‘Urban Parks’, ‘Natural Area Parks’ and ‘Neighbourhood Parks’ reveal that all park categories are valuable and highest premiums were attributable to Urban Parks at 4.54%. Investigations on individual parks were also made to imply causality on nearby HDB values using DID experiments. Results show that individual parks can cause prices of nearby HDB properties to vary. Nevertheless, parks selected for DID experiments were not representative of the green space population. By revealing the monetary value of parks and homeowners’ preference towards certain types, the government can make well informed decisions to balance land use and review green efforts for Singapore’s future.