The economics of architectural aesthetics: Identifying price effect of urban ambiences by different house cohorts

Abstract

Although interest in sensory atmospheres and urban ambiences has been growing in urban studies, little is known about the economics of such ambiences. In architecture research, urban atmospheres or ambiences have been studied qualitatively through surveys and interviews. So far, the value of ambience has been focused and quantified only for heritage buildings. However, non-heritage buildings and open spaces also shape urban ambiences, either positively or negatively. This paper seeks to empirically disentangle cohort ambience effects on house prices based on the proportion of various house cohorts to the total number of houses within either a 0.5 km or a 1.0 km radial circle. Based on more than 56,000 housing transactions from 2010 to 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand, the results confirm that houses in a neighbourhood with historic ambience have a premium of more than 20%, ceteris paribus. This finding opens up a new research agenda on the economics of architectural aesthetics and suggests that there should be further studies of the price effects of various types of urban ambiences. The results may also have important implications for architects, urban planners and government officials conducting cost-benefit analyses.