Economic impacts of being close to subway networks: A case study of Korean metropolitan areas

Subway networks are often developed in densely populated metropolitan areas that have enough potential passengers to merit their operation. Once a network has been constructed, it provides mobility to passengers and improves local accessibility to various destinations, thereby having economic, social, and public health impacts. This study aims to examine the economic impacts of subway networks in metropolitan areas among the various, wide-ranging effects of provision of transit networks. The association between actual transaction prices of condominiums and accessibility to subway networks in four metropolitan areas in South Korea is examined. Condominiums make up the dominant housing type in South Korea, so they provide a valid proxy for housing prices. In the modeling process, factors known to have a close relationship with housing prices are integrated along with the accessibility of subway networks, and spatially lagged models are utilized to effectively deal with the spatial patterns. The results of this research show that the expected positive effects of transit accessibility exist in the majority of cases in metropolitan areas, though one metropolis was an exception. These findings enhance our understanding of the economic impacts of public transit systems in relatively small metropolitan areas with less complex subway systems.