SLOPE, LAYERS, AND WALKABILITY: ESTIMATING THE LINK BETWEEN PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBILITY AND LAND VALUES IN THE MORPHOLOGY OF HIGH DENSITY CITIES

Abstract

Traditional urban economic models of the city postulate that the price and development intensity of land is a function of its accessibility. Traditionally, this accessibility has been measured from both the topographical and topological perspectives. However, the higher-density “volumetric” cities require new methods and techniques for estimating accessibility and its link to urban form. Volumetric cities feature multiple modes of movement and stacked layers of activities above and below ground with a particular emphasis on pedestrian networks. Moreover, variation in the relationship between these layers of activities and the ground presents additional complexity when considering pedestrian connectivity and the ease of movement in cities with varied terrain. As such, there are a number of challenges involved in measuring accessibility to capture the dynamics of high-density, volumetric, and topographically-varied cities. In response, the present paper employs a suite of new hybrid topographical-topological accessibility measures to capture the built and natural environments. Using the case of the western district on Hong Kong Island, the present paper associates volumetric accessibility with property values. Our spatio-temporal models find that accessibility is positively capitalized into the price: homeowners are willing to pay to live at certain locations. As such, accessibility to amenities and opportunities in the compact city appears to be broadly valued in the study area. These results form a foundation on which further explorations of the link between urban context, accessibility, and value will be built.