Amenity
Journal article
Assessing the amenity value of forest ecosystem services: perspectives from the use of sustainable green spaces
Due to the fragility of forest ecosystems, developing forest recreational resources must consider sustainable ecological, economic, and social development, and reduce impacts from recreational activities. Diverse forests with different biodiversity could promote forest ecosystem services and resistance to the pressure of tourism development. Under such circumstance, it is important to ensure that the travel and...
Working paper
Amenities and the attractiveness of New Zealand cities
This new study from Motu Economic and Public Policy Research for the Building Better Homes, Towns, and Cities National Science Challenge uses census rent and wage data to compile quality of life and quality of business measures for 130 towns and cities in New Zealand.
Conference paper
Harness the ‘love’ – using social connections to re-frame how we manage urban nature reserves
Australian cities are increasingly important for the conservation of threatened species and their habitat, supporting more species per unit area than non-urban regions. Canberra is a case in point with its existing suburbs and greenfield developments occurring alongside nationally threatened ecological communities and species in the urban reserve network, Canberra Nature Park. At the same...
Working paper
Wages, wellbeing and location: slaving away in Sydney or cruising on the Gold Coast
We analyse the relationships between subjective wellbeing (SWB), wages and internal migration. Our study addresses whether people make (revealed preference) location decisions based on SWB and/or wage prospects. We present both a theoretical intertemporal location choice model and empirical analyses using the Australian longitudinal HILDA dataset. Our theory predicts considerable heterogeneity in location choices for...
Discussion paper
Distinctively different: a new approach to valuing architectural amenities
This paper proposes a method to estimate the capitalized value of the architectural design quality of a neighbourhood.