PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gibbons, Stephen
AU  - Peng, Cong
AU  - Tang, Cheng Keat
TI  - Valuing the Environmental Benefits of Canals and Canal Restoration Using House Prices
AID  - 10.3368/le.97.4.031420-0038R1
DP  - 2021 Nov 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 858--874
VI  - 97
IP  - 4
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/97/4/858.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/97/4/858.full
SO  - Land Econ2021 Nov 01; 97
AB  - This article values the environmental benefits of historic, navigable canals using property values. We improve on standard methods by controlling for microgeographic fixed effects and applying a difference-in-differences method to canal restoration. We find a localized price premium within 100 m, around 5% before the 2008 recession, dropping to 3.4% by 2016. These effects are driven by urban canal-side properties with a direct outlook on the canals or immediate access. These locations are also attractive for developers, with a higher proportion of new-build sales. Our estimates suggest that canals generate land value uplift of £0.8–£0.9 billion in England.