Understanding the relationship between urban amenities and real estate prices is a key for the future of our cities. Location choices depend on a variety of urban amenities that eventually determine demand for a specific location. Identifying the impact of these urban amenities on the people’s preferences allows policy makers and developers to increase quality of life. Jan de Graaff therefore quantifies the impact of crime and migration on residential real estate prices and identifies the location choice preferences of Germans by applying innovative methodologies to unique German data sets.

Cities are growing worldwide and their sprawl is increasingly challenged for its pressure on open spaces and environmental quality. Economic arguments can help to decide about the trade-off between preserving environmental quality and developing housing and business surfaces, provided the benefits of environmental quality are adequately quantified. To this end, this book focuses on the use and advancement of the “hedonic approach”, an economic valuation technique that analyses and quantifies the sources of rent and property price differentials. Starting from theoretical foundations, the hedonic approach is applied to the valuation of natural land use preservation and noise abatement measures, as well as to residential segregation and discrimination, extending the analysis to the role of the buyers and sellers' identity on housing market prices and to the issue of environmental justice.

"Only someone with Claude Gruen's thoughtful history could put this together. A fascinating walk through our development past that ends with very practical, how-to suggestions for a rational urban development policy going forward."---Peter Rummell, retired chairman & CEO, The St. Joe Company --