Rethinking the economic valuation of natural land: Spatial analyses of how deeply people value nature in rural areas and in cities

The value of natural land is not directly comparable with the value of alternative land uses with a more evident productivity in monetary terms, such as real estate or infrastructure. To overcome this problem, I analyze data that measure, with unique spatial precision, people’s appreciation for locations in nature. The analyses in which I apply these data show a much stronger connection between attractive natural land and the prices of nearby residential property than other studies suggest. The results also help us to better understand the relationship between long-term well-being and the supply of natural land, which has implications for the designation of nature conservation areas and for how ‘green’ we built our cities. The findings in this thesis indicate that increased effort is needed to combine high-density residential structures with access to attractive nature.