Monitoring and Analysis of the Real Estate Market in a Social Perspective: Results from the Turin’s (Italy) Experience

In Italy, it has always been dicult to collect reliable data on real estate given the opacity of the information available. Keeping into consideration the actual availability of data and information, the possibility to have a structure for permanently monitoring and analysing the real estate market is fundamental. Focusing on developing and disseminating knowledge related to practices in this context, in this paper the Turin’s (Northern Italy) experience is presented, through the Real Estate Market Observatory (TREMO): This structure is based on a data-warehouse, implemented over time, with databases that lead to historic price observations of the residential market. The data warehouse is the basis for investigating methodologies and analyses, assuming the spatial requisites of the data and its georeferencing as the main discriminant in choosing among descriptive statistics, multi-varied or spatial analysis methods. In twenty years, several studies have been developed, allowing us not only to explore the applicability of models and operative modalities, but also to obtain results with a high potential impact under a social viewpoint. In this paper, the methodologies developed for implementing the monitoring structure are presented, specifically the “quality process” and computerized analysis procedures, followed by some representative research experiences with reference to aims, models and results

Identifying Spatial Relationships between Built Heritage Resources and Short-Term Rentals before the Covid-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Perspectives on Sustainability Issues

Built heritage resources (BHRs) are multidimensional assets that need to be conceived under a sustainability and circular economy framework. Whereas it is essential that their conservation, management, and enjoyment are sustainable, it is also necessary that the environmental, cultural, and socio-economic contexts in which they are integrated are sustainable too. Like other amenities, BHRs can improve the quality of the urban environment and generate externalities; additionally, they may influence sectors such as real estate, hospitality, and tourism. In this framework, this contribution aims to identify spatial relationships occurring between BHRs and short-term rentals (STRs), i.e., a recent economic phenomenon facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb. Through the application of Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis techniques and taking Turin (Italy) as a case study, this article provides evidence that spatial correlation patterns between BHRs and STRs exist, and that the areas most affected by STRs are the residential neighborhoods located in the proximity of the historic center of the city. Relations with other sets of socio-economic variables are highlighted too, and conclusions suggest that future studies are essential not only to monitor sustainability issues and reflect on new housing models and sustainable uses of buildings, but also to understand the evolution of the phenomenon in light of the pandemic Covid-19. they may influence sectors such as real estate, hospitality, and tourism. In this framework, this contribution aims to identify spatial relationships occurring between BHRs and short-term rentals (STRs), i.e., a recent economic phenomenon facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb. Through the application of Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis techniques and taking Turin (Italy) as a case study, this article provides evidence that spatial correlation patterns between BHRs and STRs exist, and that the areas most aected by STRs are the residential neighborhoods located in the proximity of the historic center of the city. Relations with other sets of socio-economic variables are highlighted too, and conclusions suggest that future studies are essential not only to monitor sustainability issues and reflect on new housing models and sustainable uses of buildings, but also to understand the evolution of the phenomenon in light of the pandemic Covid-19

Urban Vibrancy: An Emerging Factor that Spatially Influences the Real Estate Market

Urban vibrancy is defined and measured differently in the literature. Originally, it was described as the number of people in and around streets or neighborhoods. Now, it is commonly associated with activity intensity, the diversity of land-use configurations, and the accessibility of a place. The aim of this paper is to study urban vibrancy, its relationship with neighborhood services, and the real estate market. Firstly, it is used a set of neighborhood service variables, and a Principal Component Analysis is performed in order to create a Neighborhood Services Index (NeSI) that is able to identify the most and least vibrant urban areas of a city. Secondly, the influence of urban vibrancy on the listing prices of existing housing is analyzed by performing spatial analyses. To achieve this, the presence of spatial autocorrelation is investigated and spatial clusters are identified. Therefore, spatial autoregressive models are applied to manage spatial effects and to identify the variables that significantly influence the process of housing price determination. The results confirm that housing prices are spatially autocorrelated and highlight that housing prices and NeSI are statistically associated with each other. The identification of the urban areas characterized by different levels of vibrancy and housing prices can effectively support the revision of the urban development plan and its regulatory act, as well as strategic urban policies and actions. Such data analyses support a deep knowledge of the current status quo, which is necessary to drive important changes to develop more effcient, sustainable, and competitive cities

Assessing Social and Territorial Vulnerability on Real Estate Submarkets

The concept of social vulnerability is widely studied in literature in order to identify particularly socially fragile sectors of the population. For this purpose, several studies have adopted indexes to measure the economic and social conditions of the population. The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between social and territorial vulnerability and the real estate market, by means of an exploratory analysis related to the possibility that spatial analyses can help to identify spatial latent components and variables in the process of price determination. A three phase approach is proposed, using the geographical segmentation of Turin and its related submarkets as a case study. After the identification and analysis of a set of three social and territorial vulnerability indicators, a traditional hedonic approach was applied to measure their influence on property listing prices. Subsequently, spatial analyses were investigated to focus on the spatial components of the indicators and property prices; their spatial autocorrelation was measured and the presence of spatial dependence was taken into account by applying a spatial regression. Results demonstrated that two indicators were spatially correlated with property prices and had a significant and negative influence on them. The proposed approach may help not only to identify the most vulnerable urban areas characterized by the lowest property prices, but also to support the future modification to the actual geographical segmentation of Turin

Location and real estate values: a study for the segmentation of the Microzones of Turin

The city of Turin is segmented in 40 cadastral Microzones, approved by the City Council in June 1999, which are set up as independent segments of the real estate market. Eighteen years have passed since the approval of the division of the city into homogeneous spatial segments, a period of time in which the pattern of the city has changed, both on the level of urban planning and due to the important changes in the real estate market, most notably the economic-financial crisis which has led to a steady decrease of prices from 2010 to date. Over the past few years, prior to upgrading the Microzones, the Turin Real Estate Market Observatory (TREMO) conducted a series of studies including the segmentation of the Microzones in Historical Territorial Units (HTU), identified on the basis of a historical-urban analysis of the area without questioning the boundaries of the Microzones. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the HTUs and to examine the contribution that a territorial unit smaller than the Microzone can give to the explanation of property prices, taking into account that when decreasing the territorial extension, one has to manage even less representative data samples. In order to study the explanatory capacity of the positional variable, together with a series of variables related to the features of the apartments and buildings in the price determination process, a hedonic model was applied by using a sample of housing units offered on the market during the four-year period 2013-2016. In particular, starting from the territorial segmentation of the Microzones in the HTUs, a traditional hedonic model was applied: in the first application, the Microzone positional variable was assumed, whereas in the second, the HTUs were adopted. Both applications generated significant results, with a high coefficient of determination (Adjusted R2) and an excellent explanatory capacity of the variables considered. The importance of the “location”, taken into consideration through the Microzones or through the HTUs, is historically recognized even at an international level and continues to be one of the most important features in the listing price determination process, even during the crisis period of the real estate market

An innovative methodological and operational approach to developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites: a Geographic Information System for “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”

The model for developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites drawn up by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in 2005 is no longer wholly adequate in terms of promoting heritage resources and their local contexts. The article considers the innovation developed in the IT/ICT field and provides theoretical and methodological considerations, based on which a new methodology for devising Management Plans could be developed. A Geographic Information System (GIS) for the knowledge and management of the site “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”, is proposed as an innovative, dynamic, interoperable model that can both support urban-scale projects to capture the economic value of cultural heritage and promote forms of indirect enjoyment of the site

Economic and cultural value, urban and built heritage, architecture education: the active role of stakeholders

Innovation in architecture education is increasingly oriented towards the analysis of real problems considered in their multi-dimensionality and the active involvement of the stakeholders. In learning processes, it is useful to face real case studies so that students acquire disciplinary tools and technical knowledge for the definition of sustainable projects, closely linked to the territorial reality, the socio-economic context and the needs expressed by the different stakeholders involved. With an approach of students’ inclusion and involvement in the process of knowledge and definition of the problem under study, they are responsible for their project, collaborate with each other and with external stakeholders and become active in the community of reference. For the students this implies competences in engaging with stakeholders establishing consistent vocabularies, and facilitating participatory research and decision making in collaboration with experts from academia, industry, government, and civil society. Assuming these premises, the aim of this paper is to highlight how the active role of the stakeholders can improve the economic and cultural value of enhancement projects developed in Architecture and Planning Schools, focusing on the potentialities of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach in addressing sustainable and effective design processes. For this purpose, a three steps methodology based on PBL approach is presented in order to facilitate the active involvement of the stakeholders in improving the economic and cultural value of complex building heritages at the architectural and urban scale, starting from real problems and developing sustainable and feasible projects. Each step of the proposed methodology was applied during the atelier “Heritage Preservation and Enhancement”, carried out at the Politecnico di Torino and implemented as a module within the Erasmus + EU project “Citylab. Engaging students with sustainable cities in Latin-America”, co-funded by the European Commission. Specific results were achieved for each step through the interaction among stakeholders, teachers and students and the application of evaluation tools. In particular, the steps and the related findings mainly regarded the context and the main problem definition, the knowledge acquisition and management and the development of feasible and sustainable projects. This experience highlighted the learner’s role in defining problems and alternative design solutions, focusing not so much on the intended result (project) as on the path to get there and so start the transformation from a project-based approach to a PBL one

An innovative methodological and operational approach to developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites: a Geographic Information System for “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”

The model for developing Management Plans for UNESCO World Heritage Sites drawn up by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in 2005 is no longer wholly adequate in terms of promoting heritage resources and their local contexts. The article considers the innovation developed in the IT/ICT field and provides theoretical and methodological considerations, based on which a new methodology for devising Management Plans could be developed. A Geographic Information System (GIS) for the knowledge and management of the site “Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century”, is proposed as an innovative, dynamic, interoperable model that can both support urban-scale projects to capture the economic value of cultural heritage and promote forms of indirect enjoyment of the site