I am from Greece and I am 25 years old. Since September 2022 I have joined the MSc programme in Real Estate at Heriot-Watt University.
During my time in Edinburgh, I have been in love with the city and its people. I was amazed by the number and the quality of urban green spaces and I was feeling the need to explore more about them as I was getting knowledge about real estate, urban economics and the residential market of Edinburgh. Therefore, I decided to dedicate my dissertation to combining green spaces with real estate.
The research question is how do green spaces influence the values of Edinburgh’s residential properties. Besides the literature review of past academic papers regarding the impact of green spaces on the quality of urban living standards and the environmental policies and legislations (both in Scotland and in Edinburgh) the research methodology is based on the philosophy of interpretivism. Interpretivism supports the theory that reality should be examined through social subjectivity. This means that reality is socially constructed through experience and interaction with physical and non-physical attributes.
Approaching this scientific topic within interpretivism as the central philosophy means that social subjectivity regarding green spaces could cause changes in reality, such as differentiations in residential values in Edinburgh.
The present public survey in the form of a questionnaire will help me collect the necessary data on Edinburgh’s resident’s point of view regarding the research hypothesis statement that green spaces are positively correlated with residential values. The questionnaire is divided into three sections. The goal of the first section is to collect information on the participants’ demographics. The second half deals with the resident’s understanding of the idea of green spaces, how it really affects their lives, and how it relates to neighbourhood values. In the last part, the responders are asked to provide their willingness to pay (WTP) for a residential property that enhances the benefits of green spaces.
At this point I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart each and every one of those who are willing to spare a few minutes and participate in this survey. Answers are anonymous and the time to complete them is approximately 4 minutes. The collected data will be used only for academic purposes.
Link to the questionnaire:
https://forms.gle/mPdFZrz7ezAoX8gN8
