Park proximity, crime and apartment prices

Purpose - There is a lack of understanding in the literature on the relation between parks and house price in relation to crime in Scandinavian context. This paper aims to investigate the effect of the amenity value of accessibility to parks on apartment prices with reference to crime rates in parks in Stockholm. Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses the effects of park proximity and crime in parks on apartment prices by using geographic information systems and hedonic modelling. Findings - Findings show that the proximity of parks as an environmental amenity has an effect on apartment prices. The results also demonstrate that the impact of parks on apartment prices is different in the different segments of the apartment market in Stockholm. Moreover, various types of parks may differ in their impact, for instance, grass parks and park blocks are more desirable in Stockholm than landscape parks and neighbourhood parks. The effects of crimes in parks influence apartment prices negatively. Originality/value - This paper provides a new methodology by using the shortest distance to a park as a main variable. The shortest distance to a park variable is considered a better choice than using park as an aggregate measure. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the effect of specific park types, for instance, grass parks, neighbourhood parks, landscape parks and park blocks, in Stockholm housing market.