Housing price gradient and immigrant population: Data from the Italian real estate market

The database presented here was collected by Antoniucci and Marella to analyze the correlation between the housing price gradient and the immigrant population in Italy during 2016. It may also be useful in other statistical analyses, be they on the real estate market or in another branches of social science. The data sample relates to 112 Italian provincial capitals. It provides accurate information on urban structure, and specifically on urban density. The two most significant variables are original indicators constructed from official data sources: the housing price gradient, or the ratio between average prices in the center and suburbs by city; and building density, which is the average number of housing units per residential building. The housing price gradient is calculated for the two residential sub-markets, new-build and existing units, providing an original and detailed sample of the Italian residential market. Rather than average prices, the housing price gradient helps to identify potential divergences in residential market trends.As well as house prices, two other data clusters are considered: socio-economic variables, which provide a framework of each city, in terms of demographic and economic information; and various data on urban structure, which are rarely included in the same database. Keywords: Housing market, Immigrants, Multivariate regression, Real estate market, Price gradien

Immigrants and the city: The relevance of immigration on housing price gradient

Foreign citizens are a more and more significant part of the population of Italian cities and society (8% of the country’s total population), and they contribute to changes in the cultural, social, and economic structure of the country. Our aim was to assess the incidence of the immigrant population on urban house price polarization, as measured using an original indicator: the center-periphery housing price gradient. While there is ample literature on the relationship between average prices and immigrant populations, less research has been conducted on immigration and the housing price gradient on a national scale. This price gradient may indicate whether immigration contributes to changing the residential market, also possibly revealing segregation phenomena. We ran multivariate regressions in several steps on an original dataset of housing prices and socio-economic factors concerning 112 Italian provincial capitals to elucidate whether immigration is correlated with the housing market divide. Our main findings confirmed that larger immigrant populations coincide with steeper housing price gradients on a national scale. Our tests also demonstrated that the relevance of this phenomenon varies for different urban forms, confirming related to housing price dynamics between the cities of northern and southern Italy the relevance of urban density in elucidating

Forma della città e mercato immobiliare: la sostenibilità economica dei processi di densificazione urbana

The research addresses the economic sustainability of real estate investments, realised through urban densification process. The aim of this work is to verify whether urban form, and diverse high density urban forms specifically, must be taken into account in investments valuations of urban regeneration and urban renewal projects, such as all the other features (i.e. costs, profits, risk) usually part of the valuation process. The research question and the context from which emerges it are presented in the introduction. Subsequently, the two main lines of research are summarised: the first one concerns investments feasibility at project scale; the latter at urban and territorial level. Each one of the following three chapters are paper – based and discuss a specific research issues. The first one describes the relevance of building typology for the success or the failure of high density urban developments. The next one tests the phenomena interpretations, discussed in the previous chapter, with a real option theoretical model. The purpose is to verify the potential option value of sequential investments, using both of the main high density building typology: high rise - tall building and low rise - blocks developments. The last chapter presents the results of a multivariate regression, designed on an original dataset, which verify whether a relationship between urban density and residential market trends actually exists. Finally, the conclusion summarises the research results and suggests further research features on this matter

Urban Density and Household-Electricity Consumption: An Analysis of the Italian Residential Building Stock

AbstractThe influence of urban density on household electricity consumption is still scarcely investigated, despite the growing attention to building energy performance and the electrification of heating systems advocated at the European level. While the positive correlation between urban sprawl developments and the increasing of marginal costs of public infrastructures, services, amenities, public, and private transports are known, there has been little research on the relationship between urban form and electricity consumption in residential building stock. The present work aims to contribute to filling the gap in the existing literature, presenting the early results of ongoing research on the role of urban form in the household electricity consumption in Italy and, consequently, the related energy costs. The building typology and, in general, the structure of urban dwellings, is crucial to forecasting the electricity requirements, taking into account single housing units and their spatial composition in multi-family homes and neighborhoods. After a brief literature review on the topic, the contribution presents empirical research on the electricity consumption at the municipal level in 140 Italian cities, analyzing the diverse consumption patterns under different conditions of urban density to verify whether there exists a significant statistical correlation between them. The analysis confirms that there is a statistically negative correlation between urban density and the log of electricity consumption, even if its incidence is very limited. Further investigation may highlight whether there exists a threshold for which this relationship would be reversed, explaining the higher electricity consumption in dense metropolitan areas

T-REX OU4 HIRES: the high resolution spectrograph for the E-ELT

The goal of this unit was to consolidate the project for the construction of the high resolution spectrometer of the E-ELT (HIRES). The task included the development of scientific cases and tools to predict the instrumental performances. From the technical point of view it included several R&D activities in collaboration with highly specialized Italian companies; it culminated with the detailed design of a highly modular instrument based on well established technologies. From the management point of view it lead to the consolidation of a large international consortium that spans over 12 countries and includes most of the European and ESO-related institutes interested in high resolution spectroscopy. This consortium is led by INAF; its formal creation is awaiting the official call by ESO for the phase-A study for the HIRES instrument of the E-ELT

Immigrants and the City: The Relevance of Immigration on Housing Price Gradient

Foreign citizens are a more and more significant part of the population of Italian cities and society (8% of the country’s total population), and they contribute to changes in the cultural, social, and economic structure of the country. Our aim was to assess the incidence of the immigrant population on urban house price polarization, as measured using an original indicator: the center-periphery housing price gradient. While there is ample literature on the relationship between average prices and immigrant populations, less research has been conducted on immigration and the housing price gradient on a national scale. This price gradient may indicate whether immigration contributes to changing the residential market, also possibly revealing segregation phenomena. We ran multivariate regressions in several steps on an original dataset of housing prices and socio-economic factors concerning 112 Italian provincial capitals to elucidate whether immigration is correlated with the housing market divide. Our main findings confirmed that larger immigrant populations coincide with steeper housing price gradients on a national scale. Our tests also demonstrated that the relevance of this phenomenon varies for different urban forms, confirming related to housing price dynamics between the cities of northern and southern Italy the relevance of urban density in elucidating

High Rise vs Low Rise: does Building Typology Matter in High Density Property Investments?

It is argued in the literature that skyscrapers are the most profitable building typology that guarantees an efficient use of land when both land values and population density are high. Nonetheless evidence from on-going projects in Europe shows that many investments in skyscrapers construction fail and are abandoned in favour of low-rise high density buildings. When construction has started, tall building projects must be completed in order to gain profits and returns on investment. Due to the specific construction typology and phasing, the developer has no option to defer completion or proceed by sequential investments. On the contrary, low-rise high density buildings are characterized by high operational flexibilities as they can be expanded by sequential investments and easily modified over time in order to adapt to changes in the state variables (e.g. demand, construction costs, market prices, etc.). Investments in low-rise construction generate multiple interacting options or compounded options whose values may increase the project Net Present Value. This paper investigates the role of flexibility in high density building construction projects. We model the value of flexibility to proceed by sequential investments according to the Real Option Approach. Sequential investments can actually be seen as a series of compound and growth options, where an earlier investment cost represents the exercise price required to acquire the subsequent option to continue operating the project until the next stage comes due

Forma della città e mercato immobiliare: la sostenibilità economica dei processi di densificazione urbana

The research addresses the economic sustainability of real estate investments, realised through urban densification process. The aim of this work is to verify whether urban form, and diverse high density urban forms specifically, must be taken into account in investments valuations of urban regeneration and urban renewal projects, such as all the other features (i.e. costs, profits, risk) usually part of the valuation process. The research question and the context from which emerges it are presented in the introduction. Subsequently, the two main lines of research are summarised: the first one concerns investments feasibility at project scale; the latter at urban and territorial level. Each one of the following three chapters are paper – based and discuss a specific research issues. The first one describes the relevance of building typology for the success or the failure of high density urban developments. The next one tests the phenomena interpretations, discussed in the previous chapter, with a real option theoretical model. The purpose is to verify the potential option value of sequential investments, using both of the main high density building typology: high rise - tall building and low rise - blocks developments. The last chapter presents the results of a multivariate regression, designed on an original dataset, which verify whether a relationship between urban density and residential market trends actually exists. Finally, the conclusion summarises the research results and suggests further research features on this matter.La ricerca affronta il tema della sostenibilità economica degli investimenti immobiliari mediante processi di densificazione urbana. Il lavoro qui presentato è volto a verificare se e in quale modo la forma della città, e specificatamente la forma insediativa dell’alta densità, debba essere considerata con un certo grado di autonomia, al pari di altri fattori noti, quando si affronti la valutazione di investimenti di riqualificazione e rigenerazione urbana. Nell’introduzione viene presentata la domanda di ricerca e la lettura del contesto da cui emerge. A seguire sono sintetizzati i due principali filoni di indagine in base ai quali si sviluppa la ricerca: il primo alla scala di dettaglio del progetto, il secondo a scala urbana e territoriale. Ciascun dei tre successivi capitoli della tesi è volto a discutere uno specifico aspetto della ricerca, sulla scorta della struttura di un paper. Il primo dimostra il rilievo che la scelta della tipologia edilizia assume per il successo o il fallimento di una trasformazione urbana ad alta densità. Il secondo verifica l’interpretazione dei fenomeni descritti nel precedente capitolo mediante un modello di opzioni reali, allo scopo di determinare l’eventuale valore dell’opzione di investimenti sequenziali, adottando le due principali tipologie edilizie tipiche dell’alta densità. L’ultimo presenta gli esiti di un modello statistico, elaborato su un data set originale, volto a riscontrare in che termini esista una correlazione tra la densità urbana e l’andamento dei prezzi nel mercato residenziale. Infine le conclusioni sintetizzano gli esiti della ricerca e prospettano ulteriori avanzamenti futuri della stessa