Effect of urban landscapes on land prices in two Japanese cities

To support decision-making in landscape management and planning policies in urban built-up areas, a formal framework is needed to evaluate urban landscapes objectively and clarify the economic values of landscape amenity. This paper proposes a framework to address this issue. The framework consists of three parts: conducting a standardized landscape survey, extracting critical evaluation factors with a principal component analysis, and then identifying the effect of these factors on land prices with hedonic pricing models. Data from the cities of Tokyo and Kitakyushu were used, which are typical of large metropolitan areas and medium-sized cities in Japan. In each city, some 200–300 transacted vacant sites, designated for residential development, were chosen as samples. The results of principal component analysis and hedonic regression analysis suggested that, in either city, the compatibility of the buildings and the greenery of the neighborhood were distinctively perceived; these factors significantly influenced land prices, and the marginal effects were similar for both cities. The results empirically proved the stableness of the proposed framework and suggested the possibility of generalizing the framework in urban built-up areas. In addition, some important policy implications were provided by the analysis. The outcomes indicate that programs should be provided to motivate residents to preserve or create landscape amenity cooperatively, and justify planning policies to encourage neighborhood-based cooperation for landscape improvement. With the impact of landscape amelioration or damage being elucidated, it also makes it possible to adjust benefits among concerned people, and may help public landscape management sectors optimize their budget plans.