Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, New East Building, CB #3140, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3140, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2013 Sep 30;127:289-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.04.047. Epub 2013 Jun 20.
U.S. regulations require offsets for aquatic ecosystems damaged during land development, often through restoration of alternative resources. What effect does large-scale wetland and stream restoration have on surrounding land values? Restoration effects on real estate values have substantial implications for protecting resources, increasing tax base, and improving environmental policies. Our analysis focuses on the three-county Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina region, which has experienced rapid development and extensive aquatic ecological restoration (through the state's Ecosystem Enhancement Program [EEP]). Since restoration sites are not randomly distributed across space, we used a genetic algorithm to match parcels near restoration sites with comparable control parcels. Similar to propensity score analysis, this technique facilitates statistical comparison and isolates the effects of restoration sites on surrounding real estate values. Compared to parcels not proximate to any aquatic resources, we find that, 1) natural aquatic systems steadily and significantly increase parcel values up to 0.75 mi away, and 2) parcels <0.5 mi from EEP restoration sites have significantly lower sale prices, while 3) parcels >0.5 mi from EEP sites gain substantial amenity value. When we control for intervening water bodies (e.g. un-restored streams and wetlands), we find a similar inflection point whereby parcels <0.5 mi from EEP sites exhibit lower values, and sites 0.5-0.75 mi away exhibit increased values. Our work points to the need for higher public visibility of aquatic ecosystem restoration programs and increased public information about their value.
美国法规要求对土地开发过程中受损的水生生态系统进行补偿，通常是通过恢复替代资源来实现。大规模湿地和溪流恢复对周围土地价值有什么影响？恢复对房地产价值的影响对保护资源、增加税基和改善环境政策具有重大意义。我们的分析集中在北卡罗来纳州罗利-达勒姆-教堂山的三县地区，该地区经历了快速发展和广泛的水生生态恢复（通过该州的生态增强计划[EEP]）。由于恢复地点不是随机分布在空间中的，我们使用遗传算法将靠近恢复地点的包裹与可比的对照包裹进行匹配。与倾向得分分析类似，这种技术促进了统计比较，并隔离了恢复地点对周围房地产价值的影响。与不靠近任何水生资源的包裹相比，我们发现：1）自然水生系统稳定且显著地增加了包裹价值，可达 0.75 英里远；2）距离 EEP 恢复地点<0.5 英里的包裹的销售价格显著降低，而 3）距离 EEP 地点>0.5 英里的包裹则获得了大量的附加价值。当我们控制中间水体（例如未恢复的溪流和湿地）时，我们发现了一个类似的转折点，即距离 EEP 地点<0.5 英里的包裹价值较低，而 0.5-0.75 英里的地点价值则增加。我们的工作表明，需要提高公众对水生生态系统恢复计划的可见度，并增加有关其价值的公众信息。
