Property values in urban planning

Introduction

Cities are growing, and by 2050 UN’s predicts 68% of the world will live in urban areas. To ensure our future cities are sustainable in and environmental, social and economical perspective it requires good planning. A tool for planning our cities is to create a master plan for specific areas. A master plan can vary in size and detail level, but their aim is to ensure sustainable land use and development. When a master plan is in place it can make the area more attractive for investments and economic activity, which in turn generates jobs, entrepreneurship and public income.

Stavanger municipality is currently working on a master plan for a larger area in Hillevåg. This is an important district where a lot of development is happening. The goal of this masterplan is to create a diverse area with both business and residential areas, where one preserves the areas identity and adds qualities which makes it an attractive residential area. However, to create a masterplan of this size is a long process that demands public resources.

Challenge

This challenge wants you investigate the economical value creation of a public master plan by looking into how it affects local property prices. Does it or how does it influence the values of real estate? Knowledge of what economic value creation municipalities creates in their planning process can be very useful in order to gain political and private funding and to give transparency to public spending. In addition, it can encourage property owners to cooperate and take part in the planning process of the master plan.

You are free to choose your own approach to this challenge, but here are some ways to do it. Compare property prices in a local area before and after a master plan has been conducted. Look into earlier research on the topic, what are their conclusions? What are the strengths and weaknesses of using property prices as a measurement? Are there other measurements that are more suited to measure the economic value creation?