Mafia doesn't live here anymore: Antimafia policies and housing prices

It is well known that the value of a house depends both on the physical characteristics and on some features of the neighborhood in which it is located. If so, organized-crime activities can significantly affect urban real estate values. Antimafia policies, in turn, can be intended as a tool to influence those external features. This paper compares the effects on real estate values of the two main antimafia policies implemented in Italy since the 1990s at the municipal level. While we do not find any significant effect of dismissal policies on house prices, we find a statistically significant effect of reassignment policies depending on the specific destination of confiscated property.     

北京市民郊区大型购物中心的利用特征——以北京金源时代购物中心为例

以北京市民消费行为问卷调查第一手资料为基础,以北京金源时代购物中心为案例,从来店顾客和社区居民的双重角度研究北京市民对郊区大型购物中心这一新型商业空间的利用特征,发现专业人员与公司白领、年轻女性和带小孩的中年夫妇是其主要消费人群,并且,私家车主导的购物出行方式,多样化、休闲化的购物目的,以及社会化的购物过程构成居民利用郊区购物中心的主要特征。郊区大型购物中心的出现显著改变了附近居民的消费空间选择,但对内城居民的影响十分微弱。     

基于POI大数据的老工业区房价影响因素空间分异与实证

在采集沈阳市铁西区2017年住宅、工厂、地铁站等兴趣点数据的基础上,将工厂距离、房龄以及住宅密度三个变量与传统变量共同参与构建地理加权回归模型,揭示房价影响因素的空间异质性及形成机制。结果表明：在全区范围内,房龄、住宅密度、公共交通、公共配套设施等对房价有显著的提升作用,而工业企业等对房价有一定的抑制作用;新老城区对比来看,所筛选的影响因素与房价的相关性具有显著的空间非平稳性,具体表现在工厂距离、公交密度、商场距离等因素在新老城区的正负影响差异,以及住宅密度、地铁站距离等单向影响因子回归系数的强度渐变;从研究方法来看,基于POI与GWR集成分析,可以有效克服房价实时更新慢、准确度低及数据清洗困难等传统难题,从而为构建和发展新数据环境下的经济地理研究提供参考。     

Hedonic pricing analysis of the influence of urban green spaces onto residential prices: the case of Leipzig,Germany

In the light of global urbanization and biodiversity loss, ecosystem services provided by urban green spaces (UGS) are becoming increasingly important, not least as a recovery and recreation opportunity for citizens. The valuation of UGS is significant for urban planners, who make decisions on the creation or removal of UGS. We analysed the influence of UGS on residential property prices in Leipzig, Germany, by applying a hedonic pricing analysis. This analysis complements the existing literature by considering both sale and rental prices for flats and houses; moreover, the shape of UGS is taken into account explicitly; finally, it is the first study in Germany to analyse UGS in hedonic studies to such an extent. The results demonstrate that the size of the nearest UGS has a stronger impact on prices compared to the distance from it. With respect to shape, we found that the simpler the UGS shape, the higher the prices. Although we find an impact of UGS on prices, the impact is smaller than that of other characteristics. The proposed valuation approach and obtained results inform urban planners regarding the design of new UGS and raise awareness about potential intended and unintended economic and social effects.     

Class,Community and Communicative Planning: Urban Redevelopment at King's Cross,London

Abstract: This paper presents an argument for considering issues of class in analyses of communicative planning projects. In these projects, class interests tend to be obscured by the contemporary preoccupation with the class‐ambiguous category of “community”. Through a case study of a project of urban redevelopment at King's Cross in London, we conceptualize and map class interests in an urban redevelopment project. Three aspects of the planning process that contain clear class effects are looked at: the amount of office space, the flexibility of plans, and the appropriation of the urban environment as exchange or use value. These aspects structure the urban redevelopment but are external to the communicative planning process. The opposition to the redevelopment has in the planning discourse been articulated as “community”‐based rather than in class‐sensitive terms. We finally present three strategies for reinserting issues of class into planning theory and practice.     

房地产开发导向的城市更新——我国现行城市再发展的认识和思考

文章介绍了西方国家关于房地产开发导向的城市更新实践(Property-led Redevelopment),以及相关的增长机(Growth Machine)、城市政体(Urban Regime)等理论。在此基础上,分析了我国城市再发展的实践。为实现城市经济增长,城市地位提升,城市形象改善等多元目标,房地产开发已经成为我国城市再发展的主导模式。为此,文章细致分析了我国当前房地产开发导向的城市再发展的动力机制和基本特征,并对当前的再发展模式进行反思。对这些问题的讨论,旨在正确引导市场转型期中国的城市再发展。     

Mixed-use ‘regeneration’ of employment land in the post-industrial city: challenges and realities in London

This article explores the relationships between land-use planning, property and economic development, with a focus on the changing attitudes towards employment land in post-industrial cities. Drawing on case study data from two London local authorities, it finds that planning authorities are moving away from protecting employment land to actively promoting the mixed-use redevelopment of employment sites, even when there are thriving businesses on these sites and a shortage of supply of employment premises and land, relative to demand. We examine the drivers for changing policy including the national and regional policy contexts, housing targets, the influence of austerity measures, rise of Neighbourhood Planning and changing conceptions of regeneration and the role of housing therein. The article highlights the complex task faced by local planners and the tensions involved in simultaneously finding sites for housing, fostering economic development and promoting mixed-use redevelopment in planning policy and decisions. We find that changes in policy are fuelling speculation for housing development on sites occupied by viable businesses, supporting rather than responding to deindustrialization. This is leading to a gap between aspirations for delivering mixed-use environments on hitherto employment sites and realities on the ground.     

City subcenter as a regional development policy: Impact on the property market

The aim of this study is to perform a locally specific investigation of a polycentric development policy through the lens of the property market. The capital city of China, Beijing, adopted a subcenter program for the purpose of developing a new economic growth pole in the suburbs through the redistribution of administrative and economic resources. Herein, we exploit spatial and temporal differencing in microproperty transaction data to address the issue of nonrandom selection of the site for developing the subcenter. The results show that in the first year after announcing the subcenter program, property prices in the subcenter rose by 10.5%, stabilizing at approximately 20% after 2 years of continuous increase. Moreover, property price growth decreases sharply with increased distance from the new administrative center in the subcenter, which will host tens of thousands of civil servants under the subcenter program. In response to the subcenter-induced demand shock, locations with elastically supplied housing have experienced greater population growth and weaker appreciation in property prices. Although strict purchase restrictions have helped stabilize the subcenter's property market to some extent, the fever has spread to adjacent markets. The specific geography of property market dynamics provides an important channel to evaluate the impact of the subcenter program and offers insight regarding the development of tactics to optimize subcenter outcomes.     

大型购物中心与幼童母亲的多重身份建构——女性主义、家庭化、公共与私人空间的超越

大型购物中心成为研究现代都市女性身份与社会、空间关系的三棱镜。本文聚焦于"幼童母亲"这一群体,探究其身份认同与购物中心的相互建构过程。通过南京市虹悦城购物中心的研究发现,幼童母亲在购物中心内建立起了多种身份认同,并在身份认同驱使下形成多重实践。这一过程使得幼童母亲在购物空间中突破了传统的公共空间与私人空间的二元划分,借助私密空间的综合性和社会化实现了女性自我个性的释放,实现了社会性别空间的重新定义,同时也重新定义和建构了大型购物中心这一现代都市消费空间。     

The Dynamics and Volatility of Commercial and Residential Property Prices: Theory and Evidence*

Abstract. This article investigates the dynamics of property prices and their interaction with output growth in a general equilibrium model. Closed form solutions and testable hypotheses are derived from a mildly restricted version of the model. The testable hypotheses are broadly supported empirically. In particular, (1) the volatility of commercial property prices is higher than that of residential property prices, (2) each of the lagged, contemporary, and forward commercial property prices is positively correlated with residential property prices, (3) the contemporaneous covariance between the two property prices is larger than the lagged covariance, and (4) output growth is positively correlated with both property prices. These results are consistent with simulations results that are based on a more general specification of the model.     

An Assessment of the Space-Time Differential Model for Aggregate Trip Behavior to Planned Suburban Shopping Centers

Aggregate trip behavior to planned suburban shopping centers is studied in terms of changes in trip distance and shopping time within a framework of trip frequency, center scale, and consumer mobility. Such changes are expressed by a second-order differential equation. The assumed shopping strategy is that consumers accelerate the shopping trip cycle by minimizing trip distances. This can be solved to provide theoretical norms to assess against an exploratory data set compiled from 2,810 surveys undertaken in 1980/82 and 1988/89 over a range of centers. The analysis shows a significant relationship between the gravity coefficient and trip frequency. The samples are tested for periodicity using Fourier analysis. The results show that “small” centers are more likely to exhibit periodic behavior. “Large” centers do not follow this hypothesis. Both the gravity coefficient and trip frequency are shown to be quadratic functions of center size. The nonlinearity may be introduced by the agglomeration of shopping opportunities at larger centers. A critical value for “small-” and “large-”center behavior is determined from the minimum points of these distributions. A second equation from classical diffusion analysis is tested for “large” center behavior, where consumers accelerate spatial choice through a time minimization strategy. The results suggest that this strategy occurs at the midrange specialty center during the afternoon of the pre-Christmas rush rather than at large regional centers. The empirical characteristics of the three types of trip behavior are summarized.     

MEASURING THE EFFECT OF COST VARIATION ON INDUSTRIAL OUTPUTS*

ABSTRACT. This paper introduces the household interactive variable input-output (HIVIO) model to measure the effect of cost variation on industrial outputs. The model produces a variety of cost elasticities that separate out impacts on industrial prices, imports, and outputs, with “own” and “cross” elasticity components. Like the conventional input-output multipliers, these cost elasticities can be useful parameters to evaluate the substituting behavior of firms and consumers. By using the 1980 Korean input-output transactions table, we find the wage and import price effects on industrial prices, outputs, and import demands.     

Waterfront redevelopment and urban policy: The case of Barcelona,Cardiff and Genoa

In this article, waterfront redevelopment is linked to the recent development of urban policy and to relations between port and city. This is discussed with the empirical study of three European regional capitals (Barcelona, Cardiff and Genoa) of different size, how the redevelopment was done and how the projects link with the development of urban policy. The redevelopment of Baltimore's Inner Harbour has influenced strongly the physical outcome of the projects in these three cities but it is very difficult to achieve similar success because of the differences in time, space, local culture, etc. Each case demonstrates that a strong market‐ and property‐led approach has serious weaknesses when heavy public subsidies are used for improving the infrastructure but the private sector has not been able to fulfil its part in time. The question of social justice of waterfront redevelopment is raised at the end of the article.     

Urban redevelopment and residential location choice: Evidence from a major earthquake in Japan

We examine residential location choice behavior in a metropolitan area of Japan that experienced seismic damage. We find that the internal structure of the affected area was reshaped, although, in the long term, its total population size was robust to this temporary shock. Before the earthquake, the population was evolving toward a state of equilibrium with dense locations in the core facing redevelopment barriers and, therefore, stagnation. In contrast, the periphery was becoming increasingly appealing and thus growing. Seismic damage allowed for redevelopment at higher density, making the adjusted equilibrium with dense locations grow again. In summary, the initially expanding periphery stagnated as an unintended consequence of urban redevelopment.     

PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND: AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF A NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND “FAILING” SCHOOL DESIGNATION

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), schools receiving Title I funding that fail to meet adequate academic performance targets for two consecutive years are deemed “failing.” This broadly defined, but often misunderstood designation has exerted a negative and unintended effect on low‐income neighborhoods—the same neighborhoods NCLB was originally intended to help. Specifically, we find that “failing” designations significantly decrease home prices. This property value response is observed even after controlling for a myriad of traditional test score measures and school‐level student demographics. Additional analyses suggest that this home price effect is largely due to strong perceptions of poor school quality or social stigma surrounding a “failing” designation.     

Educational Outcomes and House Values: A Test of the value added Approach*

Abstract. We use house price hedonics to compare the extent that homeowners value traditional measures of school quality or the “value added” of schooling. Unlike other studies, we use spatial statistics as an identification strategy. Based on our study of 310 school districts and 77,000 house transactions, we find little support for the value added model. Instead, we find that households consistently value a district's average proficiency test scores and expenditures. The elasticity of house prices with respect to school expenditures is 0.49, and an increase in test scores by one standard deviation, ceteris paribus, raises house prices by 7.1 percent.     

Spatial Poetics Under Authoritarianism: Graffiti and the Contestation of Urban Redevelopment in Contemporary China

This article investigates the expression of resistance to urban redevelopment in the authoritarian context of contemporary China. Where conventional channels of public expression are closed, the very space of urban transformation becomes an important medium of contestation. Through the practice of “spatial poetics”, residents manipulate the taken-for-granted meanings attached to urban space, challenging the spatial codes that authorise redevelopment. Working across four spatial dimensions—territory, place, scale, and network—these poetic manipulations allow residents to de-naturalise existing power structures, escape their effects, and re-code space with alternative meanings. The article illustrates the practice of spatial poetics through an analysis of Ciqikou, a historic district of Chongqing undergoing redevelopment. Residents expressed their resistance to redevelopment by writing slogans on buildings slated for demolition. By emphasising relationships of scale, network, and place, residents’ graffiti challenged the territorial basis of the Chinese party-state’s redevelopment project and revalorised the neighbourhood as worthy of preservation.     

IS CRIME BAD FOR BUSINESS? CRIME AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES IN NEW YORK CITY

To test how crime affects economic activity, we use point‐specific data on crime, commercial property sales and assessed values from New York City, relying on an instrumental variables strategy. We find that crime reduces commercial property values, and the magnitude of the effect depends on the type and geography of crime. Elasticities range from ?0.1 to ?0.5. We find stronger evidence for negative violent crime effects in neighborhoods with lower incomes and higher shares of minority residents. Thus, disadvantaged neighborhoods are doubly harmed by crime—they have higher crime rates and those crimes have stronger effects on economic activity.     

NEW COMPETITION IN SHOPPING-CENTER HIERARCHIES: AN EMPIRICAL COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVE SPECIFICATIONS*

ABSTRACT. Within the framework of an existing hierarchy of shopping centers, Voronoi diagrams at each level of the hierarchy are used to define infringement on existing centers by new entrants. We distinguish four intensities of infringement—that is, four categorizations of when existing centers face new competition—and label shopping centers accordingly. Our aim is to determine empirically which type of new competition is best explained by various attributes of the incumbent centers. To accomplish this, logit analysis is used to relate the above labels to market-area population, store turnover, age, and hierarchical level of each shopping center in Edmonton, Alberta.     

Working,Shopping, and House Rents

The interaction between household demand for goods and for leisure and the supply of labor at various distances from an urban center is investigated for the case where rents are endogenous and adjust to equalize differences in utility produced by the greater time and money costs of the journey to shop and the journey to work. The model is solved for a set of realistic parameter values and this confirms that when rents are equal everywhere the demand for leisure can increase and the supply of labor decrease for households nearer the center, while once rents are endogenous the reverse must be true. For a household at a given location the elasticities of demand for goods and leisure and the elasticity of labor supply are calculated for all the parameters of the model. It is shown that the unavoidable costs of travel to work have strong effects on the rent gradient while the costs of the journey to shop have only weak effects, being offset by the variable frequency of shopping.