Clean Air Programs Increase Property Values, Study Says

Anthony Flint writes for the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to explain the findings of a recent working paper, “Building the Breathable City.” The study, authored by Alexander Lord, Erwin van der Krabben, and Guanpeng Dong, documents the connection between air quality and land values in China.

“The kind of analysis done in Zhengzhou is important because it directly links environmental improvements to increasing value. Demonstrating that link is crucial in making the case for a financial tool that could be essential for addressing the climate crisis: land value capture," writes Flint.

The article provides more detail about land value capture as an emerging tool for municipalities and countries to generate revenue for the adaptation and mitigation investments that will be required of climate change. There is a growing list of projects that have successfully delivered economic benefit by investing in climate resilience and environmental sustainability, as documented by Flint, including projects in Quito, Seattle, Philadelphia, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and Boston.

Still, the emerging evidence in support of an environmental approach to economic development has a long way to go to become the status quo. According to Flint, “many barriers must be overcome to make land value capture work. National urban development laws need to be reformed to authorize more local governments to mobilize land value increments and permit own-source revenue. Around the world, a pressing need remains to improve institutional capacity, good governance, land controls, and tenure systems.”

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has also created a Land-Based Climate Finance page that explains how municipalities can leverage capital stock is embedded in land, buildings, and infrastructure to generate revenue streams for climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience.