Enhancing station level Direct-Demand models with Multi-Scalar accessibility indicators

Direct-demand models (DDM) are increasingly being used for a diversity of transit research and practice purposes. Yet few station-level DDM studies have explored the use of composite indicators of metropolitan accessibility in predicting demand. After all, provision of access to metropolitan destinations is one of the main goals of rapid-transit systems. Furthermore, to this author’s knowledge no study has explored potential interactions with local-level accessibility indicators that are typically included in station level transit DDMs. This study explores these possibilities and uses Los Angeles multimodal rapid-transit network as a representative case study of a system that operates in a dispersed agglomeration where multiple sub-centers are linked. Multi-level generalized linear models were implemented where key predictors, including stations\u27 metropolitan- and a local-accessibility indicators are regressed onto average weekday boardings. Furthermore, more general accessibility constructs were developed via EFA and implemented in models; and parameters non-stationarity was assessed via geographically weighted regressions. Results indicate that nodal metropolitan accessibility is a significant predictor of patronage in LA’s rapid-transit network, and that its interaction with local-accessibility amplifies boardings and improves DDM models’ explanatory power. More general constructs of accessibility at metropolitan and local-scale were derived via EFA and these resulted in a more parsimonious model with equal predictive power. Land-use and transit planners would benefit from including an accessibility lens in their DDM modeling. Practical applications of these type of models include TOD scenario planning, comparative route alignment studies, system expansion studies, and for didactic purposes given the ability of accessibility measures to capture land-use/transportation interactions

Design and development of a web-based GIS application for rating residential properties

In the real estate business, it is a common understanding that the value and potential of a property are fundamentally determined by its location and surrounding environment, like the proximity to services and facilities. Depending on buyer/tenant preferences or on the stage of a person life cycle, surrounding preferences may vary, such as families with young children are interested in properties located near parks, playgrounds or schools, whereas young people and students want to be near entertainment venues.  In this paper, we present "Rate your Place", a web-based GIS that allows buyers/tenants to define their preferences regarding the types of facilities that they want to have near or far from their ideal property and returns a ranked list of the most suitable properties. Ranking mechanism is based on a multi-criteria geospatial analysis methodology that employs: (a) routing methods, for calculating road network distances, (b) a Ratio Estimation Procedure, for assigning weights to types of facilities, (c) Score Range Procedure, for distance normalization and (d) a Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) index for calculating the final score of each property. The methodology is supported by an integrated web-based GIS developed exclusively with the use of open source software. As a case study, an application has been implemented for the city of Chios, Greece

Identification of investment opportunities in urban regeneration projects

The evolution of cities creates a socioeconomic system which generates investment opportunities for the actors within real estate sector. These opportunities occur through large scale urban development projects which aim to regenerate wide areas of the city structure. Although the initiative derives mainly from the public authorities, the involvement of the private sector plays a significant role for the success of such projects. However, the complexity of urban regeneration schemes poses definite challenges for a robust and accurate investment analysis. This thesis initially investigates the relation between real estate development and urban regeneration. Thereafter, it examines the approach of the real estate sector, focusing mainly on the perspective of the property developers, by identifying and evaluating the emerging investment potentials in urban regeneration projects. The research methods include a literature review as well as an empirical study from the property market of Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The literature part reviews the theoretical framework of urban regeneration and real estate development and combines their features in a separate chapter. In particular, urban regeneration is examined as an investment process with certain content, context, and organisation; the DCF comprises the prevailing method for the investment analysis. The findings of the literature review indicate the employment of more sophisticated risk analysis methods in order to capture the high complexity and the required flexibility of urban regeneration projects. The empirical study is performed by semi-structured interviews with real estate developers and investors. The results of the case study underpin the findings of the literature review, in terms of capturing latent opportunities and providing higher flexibility in the investment analysis. However, real estate developers believe that this flexibility derives from complex quantitative methods which are hard to grasp and comprise rather an encumbrance than facilitating the decision-making process. The findings of the thesis can be utilised for further research by conducting quantitative analysis on particular projects. This spherical approach can provide a solution in balancing the trade-off between the robustness and the clarity of the investment analysis

Making – or Picking – Winners: Evidence of Internal and External Price Effects in Historic Preservation Policies

Much has been written identifying property price effects of historic preservation policies. Little attention has been paid to the possible policy endogeneity in hedonic price models. This paper outlines a general case of land use regulation in the presence of externalities and then demonstrates the usefulness of the model in an instrumental-variables estimation of a hedonic price analysis – with an application to historic preservation in Chicago. The theoretical model casts doubt on previous results concerning price effects of preservation policies. The comparative statics identify some determinants of regulation that seem, on the face of it, most unlikely to also belong in a hedonic price equation. The analysis employs these determinants as instruments for endogenous regulatory treatment in a hedonic price analysis. OLS estimation of the hedonic offers results consistent with much of previous literature, namely that property values are higher for historic landmarks. In the 2SLS hedonic, robust estimates of the "own" price effect of historic designation are shown to be large and negative (approx. -27%) for homes in landmark districts. Further, significant and substantively important (positive) external price effects of landmark designations are found. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings for historic preservation.hedonics, built heritage, heritage valuation, real estate economics

Strategic decision modeling in Brownfield redevelopment

De ruimtelijke planning en het herstructureringsproces van bedrijventerreinen zijn onlangs aan enkele belangrijke veranderingen onderhevig geweest. Ten eerste is de omvang van de ruimtelijke herstructureringsprojecten toegenomen. Ten tweede zijn de traditionele lineaire planningsprocessen vervangen door publiek-private samenwerkingen waarbinnen de rollen en de onderlinge afhankelijkheid van ontwikkelaars en overheidsorganen gewijzigd zijn. Binnen deze nieuwe kaders is de herstructurering van brownfields veelal problematisch; er treden veel conflicten op tijdens planprocessen. In dit onderzoek wordt beargumenteerd dat het gebrek aan consensus onder betrokken stakeholders een belangrijke oorzaak is van de optredende stagnatie binnen brownfield herstructureringsprocessen. Het uiteindelijke doel van dit onderzoek is het voorspellen en analyseren van het optreden van conflicten in herstructureringsprocessen, alsmede het doen van aanbevelingen over optimale publiek-private samenwerkingsovereenkomsten voor de herstructurering van brownfields. Om dit doel te verwezenlijken is er een onderzoekskader opgesteld, welke is gericht op het specificeren en analyseren van: (1) de attributen van een brownfield; (2) de voorkeuren van de groepen van actoren; en (3) de kenmerken in het onderhandelingsproces tussen de twee groepen van actoren. Voor het verzamelen van noodzakelijke data zijn er twee online enquêtes gehouden. In beide gevallen waren de geënquêteerden experts binnen een specifieke tak van gebiedsontwikkeling. Voor dit onderzoek zijn verschillende methoden gebruikt. Ten eerste is de Fuzzy Delphi methode gebruikt om brownfield attributen te structureren en te prioriteren. Stated Choice experimenten verschaffen vervolgens het inzicht in de individuele voorkeuren van verschillende actor-groepen. Deze resulterende nutsfuncties zijn uiteindelijk gebruikt als de input voor de analyse van multi-actor besluitvorming, waarvoor de methode Game Theory is gebruikt. De resultaten van het besluitvormingsproces hangen niet alleen af van een individuele keuze maar ze bevatten ook de invloed van de keuzes van een tegenspeler. Het vinden van mogelijke consensusrijke strategieën in de onderhandelingen over de herstructurering van brownfields is het doel van deze laatste stap. Tot op heden is er weinig onderzoek verricht naar de ontwikkeling van besluitvormingsmodellen waarin systematisch de kenmerken van de brownfieldterreinen en de herstructureringsplannen verbonden wordt met het gedrag van de betrokken actoren; een dergelijke verbinding kan inzicht geven in mogelijke bronnen van conflicten. Dit onderzoek draagt bij aan de ontwikkeling van modellen waarin de interactie tussen verschillende actoren binnen een complex probleemgebied wordt geanalyseerd. De resultaten van dit onderzoek ondersteunen besluitvormers en procesmanagers bij het vinden van een optimale overeenkomst in de publiek-private onderhandelingen omtrent de herstructurering van brownfields