From Elevated Freeway to Linear Park: Land Price Impacts of Seoul, Korea's CGC Project

Freeways and other high-performance roadway investments have long been considered vital to the economic well-being of metropolitan areas. Empirical research shows that limited-access, grade-separated freeway systems increase a region’s economic productivity by lowering transportation costs, a factor input to economic production (Aschauer, 1990; Boarnet, 1997). Past studies also reveal that urban land markets capitalize the benefit of proximity to freeway interchanges, especially for non-residential uses and in areas experiencing worsening traffic conditions (Gillen, 1996; Boarnet, 1997; Bhatta and Drennan, 2003). Increasingly, city leaders are turning to a different kind of public asset to grow local economies, notably public amenities, urban parks, and other civic functions that enhance quality of central-city living. In an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based global marketplace, improved civic spaces and expansion of the arts and cultural-entertainment offerings, proponents contend, will appeal to highly sought professional-class workers, Richard Florida’s (2002) so-called “creative class”.