Original ArticleValuing urban wetland quality with hedonic price model

- We apply five metrics to measure various aspects of wetland quality.
- We use HPM to determine land value impacts of specific aspects of wetland quality.
- We find that preference for wetland size and proximity exhibits an inverted U shape.
- We find that people prefer wider upland buffers, green space and protected wetland.
- We find that people favor suitable human alteration to wetland hydrology and soil.

Understanding urban resident's preference for different aspects of wetland quality is essential before taking initiatives on wetland protection, restoration and wise management. To examine how a single ecosystem type is valued, and how the different aspects of that ecosystems quality are preferred by households, this paper first used five metrics to measure various aspects of wetland quality and then applied hedonic price model to explore the relationship between wetland quality and property values in Franklin County, Ohio, using the semi-parametric estimation method.Results suggest that urban residents' preference for wetland size and proximity to the nearest wetland exhibits an inverted U shape, which are robust with various specifications. The results regarding wetland quality indicate that the sign of estimated coefficients for quality of buffers, surrounding land usage, and quality of hydrological activity, and quality of special wetland remains consistent across different specifications. It also implies that urban residents prefer wider upland buffers, green space around the wetland, and historical or protected wetland. The semi-parametric results show that residents tend to favor appropriate human disturbance to wetland hydrology and substrate. This study contributes to the literature by using a series of novel index to measure various aspects of wetland ecosystem services in urban settings, including size of buffers and surrounding land use, quality of hydrological activity, quality of wetland substrate, presence of special wetland, and vegetation, interspersion and microtopography.