Transport Infrastructures and Economic Development of the Territory

Abstract

Transport infrastructures offer a fundamental contribution to the economic and social development of a country. These, branching out over the territory, allow the movement and transport of people and goods with a potentially significant reduction in mobility time. Saving time has a positive impact on productivity, on the labour market and on the quality of life of citizens. The objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of the economic impacts generated by transportation infrastructures, particularly in the urban real estate market. Among the benefits induced by investments in transport infrastructures, the increase in territorial accessibility is certainly significant: increasing the attractiveness of properties in relation to their location, improved accessibility also leads to an increase in the relative real estate values. Hedonic pricing method has long been the most widely used reference for studying and quantifying these increases in value. The study also reports on this, along with research perspectives that must concern: the selection of useful variables to express the levels of urban accessibility; the characterization of a regression function for the quantitative estimation of the effects that accessibility determines on the formation of real estate prices.