Does the housing market reflect cultural heritage? A case study of Greater Dublin

Citation

Moro M, Mayor K, Lyons S & Tol RSJ (2013) Does the housing market reflect cultural heritage? A case study of Greater Dublin. Environment and Planning A, 45 (12), pp. 2884-2903. https://doi.org/10.1068/a45524

Abstract
Does the housing market reflect cultural heritage? We estimate several specifications of a hedonic price equation to establish whether distance to, and density of, cultural heritage site is capitalised into housing prices in Greater Dublin, Ireland. We use a very rich dataset of housing and neighbourhood characteristics and include 104 location-fixed effects, which represent very small areas, ensuring the identification of the price effects on similar houses in similar areas. Our results show that some types of cultural heritage sites, such as historic buildings, memorials, and Martello towers, provide positive spillovers to property prices while archaeological sites seem to be a negative amenity. We interpret these premiums (or lack thereof) as capturing aesthetic beauty.

Keywords
cultural economics; cultural heritage; hedonic price; hedonic regression; nonmarket valuation; Ireland

Journal
Environment and Planning A: Volume 45, Issue 12