Mental health benefits of contact with parks and nature have been well documented, but this is a significant area where further research on valuing these benefits is required. (ii) Landscape and neighbourhood amenity Benefit and beneficiary Victoria’s provide enjoyment and mental health benefits to surrounding residents, particularly residents near urban and peri-urban parks in Melbourne and regional cities. Context Parks provide important amenity services to surrounding residents, enabling a range of personal and community benefits. This may include both use values from having closer proximity to access greenspace, to gaining heath and enjoyment benefits from viewing nature and wildlife as well as values by knowing that nature is being conserved nearby. A common method of valuing the amenity of parks is through hedonic house price modelling which compares the sale price between homes that are in close proximity to parks against those that are not, taking into consideration other factors, such as house features, building age, transport, schools and other influences on home price. A recent review of hedonic studies from the USA, UK and Europe and has shown that there is good evidence that parks and open space have a positive impact on nearby residential property values. While different types of parks may have different types of effects, proximity to parks can add between 5% and 20% to the value of homes. Locally, an ongoing study of home values surrounding Wattle Park in Melbourne found an increase in value of up to 20%, while a study of Noosa National park in Queensland (a peri-urban park) found an increase of 7% in home value. A number of these studies have also found a positive relationship between distance from a park and property value. Some research has also highlighted a relationship between parks that are well maintained which have higher increases in value. Amenity value may also be reflected in life satisfaction of nearby residents. A recent Australian study that examined the influence of public greenspace on the life satisfaction of residents of Australia’s capital cities found a positive relationship between the percentage of public greenspace in a resident’s local area and their self-reported life satisfaction. On average, it found that a resident has an implicit willingness-to-pay of $1,168 in annual household income for a one per cent increase in public green space. Links to other services The provision of amenity is linked to other services such as recreation enjoyment (with many residents also likely to be park visitors), health benefits (with residents also likely to be undertaking physical
Mental health benefits of contact with parks and nature have been well documented, but this is a significant area where further research on valuing these benefits is required. (ii) Landscape and neighbourhood amenity Benefit and beneficiary Victoria’s provide enjoyment and mental health benefits to surrounding residents, particularly residents near urban and peri-urban parks in Melbourne and regional cities. Context Parks provide important amenity services to surrounding residents, enabling a range of personal and community benefits. This may include both use values from having closer proximity to access greenspace, to gaining heath and enjoyment benefits from viewing nature and wildlife as well as values by knowing that nature is being conserved nearby. A common method of valuing the amenity of parks is through hedonic house price modelling which compares the sale price between homes that are in close proximity to parks against those that are not, taking into consideration other factors, such as house features, building age, transport, schools and other influences on home price. A recent review of hedonic studies from the USA, UK and Europe and has shown that there is good evidence that parks and open space have a positive impact on nearby residential property values. While different types of parks may have different types of effects, proximity to parks can add between 5% and 20% to the value of homes. Locally, an ongoing study of home values surrounding Wattle Park in Melbourne found an increase in value of up to 20%, while a study of Noosa National park in Queensland (a peri-urban park) found an increase of 7% in home value. A number of these studies have also found a positive relationship between distance from a park and property value. Some research has also highlighted a relationship between parks that are well maintained which have higher increases in value. Amenity value may also be reflected in life satisfaction of nearby residents. A recent Australian study that examined the influence of public greenspace on the life satisfaction of residents of Australia’s capital cities found a positive relationship between the percentage of public greenspace in a resident’s local area and their self-reported life satisfaction. On average, it found that a resident has an implicit willingness-to-pay of $1,168 in annual household income for a one per cent increase in public green space. Links to other services The provision of amenity is linked to other services such as recreation enjoyment (with many residents also likely to be park visitors), health benefits (with residents also likely to be undertaking physical
Valuing-Victorias-Parks-Report-Accounting-for-ecosystems-and-valuing-their-benefits.docx