Wetlands provide recreation and cultural values including scenic views,
aesthetics, open-spaces, and leisure opportunities to surrounding residents. This study
applies a hedonic approach to estimate the impact of wetland amenities on nearby single
family homes using actual sales prices of properties from 1991 to 2005 in Chatham
County, Georgia, where wetland resources are unevenly distributed in terms of types and
quantities of wetlands. Separate hedonic models are investigated to understand the spatial
variation of wetland amenity effects across different study areas in Chatham County.
This study finds that wetland amenity values vary mainly with the characteristics
of study location. In a rural setting where wetland resources are ample and sufficient.
Wetland amenities have negative impacts on the sales price of nearby single family
homes. Forested wetlands, the size of the nearest wetland, and wetland proximity
negatively impact the sales price of the properties. In an urban setting where wetland
resources are extremely limited, wetlands have significant positive amenity effects. The
size of the nearest wetland positively impact the sales price of nearby single family
homes, but type of wetlands turns into insignificant. In a suburban area with diverse wetland recourses in term of types of wetlands, mixed amenity effects are found. In
general immediate access to a wetland, especially a large size one, positively impact
nearby single family homes. Type of wetlands plays a key role in deciding the direction
and magnitude of wetland amenity effects in a suburban area. The findings of the study
suggest that policy makers need to think about both the characteristics of wetlands and
their spatial context when providing or protecting wetland amenities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/150925 |
| Date | 16 December 2013 |
| Creators | Gao, Shan |
| Contributors | Rogers, George O, Lee, Chanam, Winson, Kimberly W, Srinivasan, Raghavan |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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