Valuing the Built Environment: GIS and House Price Analysis

This book critically assesses the hedonic pricing technique as a method of imputing monetary values for the implicit attributes of housing. The hedonic technique is widely used, particularly in the US, but increasingly in Europe and Asia and has proved to yield important results and influence cost-benefit analysis. Scott Orford breaks new ground in this volume by exploring hedonic house price models within a geographical rather than purely economic context. He reevaluates the microeconomic theory of housing markets and concludes that only by treating housing market dynamics as inherently spatial can empirical results conform to the theory that underpins them. He also makes conclusions with respect to locational externalities, which have important implications as to how the built environment is valued.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; The hedonic house price function; Housing attributes and Spatial data; Constructing a context-sensitive urban GIS; The Spatial dynamics of an urban housing market; Towards a valuation of locational externalities; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
’Anyone who uses GIS in urban analysis should read this book. It is the first to set out the ways in which the new data infrastructure to GIS provides new opportunities to value housing and residential environments...In sum, it is an eloquent statement of the state-of-the-art of much of urban modelling today.’ Professor Paul Longley, University of Bristol, UK ’...Valuing the Built Environment is of use to those interested in urban housing markets, or in the use of GIS in spatial modeling.’ Environment and Planning A ’This book presents a wealth of empirical material on the Cardiff housing market. In a wider sense, it is interesting because it addresses several practical and theoretical problems.’ Journal of Housing and the Built Environment ’...the author demonstrates convincingly the benefits of a multilevel modelling approach to house price analysis...This book is written in a clear and concise style and is a worthy addition to the hedonic pricing literature...a reasonable price to pay for a book which I consider essential reading for anyone interested in house-price analysis.’ Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design ’...important and innovative contribution...to the bookshelf in this field.’ Scottish Geographical Journal ’...the book is a helpful introduction to GIS for those interested in its use for the analysis of house price data...a major strength of the book is the clarity of explanation of various theories and techniques.’ Housing Studies ’Any instructor of a graduate course in housing economics is aware of the paucity of good books, and books that could serve as textbooks on this subject. Valuing the Built Environment has many features that would allow it to serve well as a textbook on an important subset of housing economics: housing price analysis...the book makes an important contribution to the published literature.’ Papers in Regional Science ’...a good overview of the historical development of the mode