Rail Needs Assessment for the Midlands and the North: Amenity benefit valuation
Research by Dr Laila AitBihiOuali on the effects of increased rail capacity on the amenity benefits of cities in the Midlands and the North.
The Commission appointed Imperial College London to research and compile current amenity benefits of living in the Midlands and the North of the UK, in order to inform the Rail Needs Assessment. This is in order to understand the full benefits of increased rail capacity into city centres.
The objectives of the report include:
- Calculate the elasticity of amenity benefits of cities in the north and Midlands, with respect to agglomeration
- The elasticity is the change in the rent premium, with respect to the effective density of a city, so there must be suitable control variables for this
- Build upon the Glaeser framework to calculate the amenity benefit elasticity
- A clear and concise report with the methodology set out for how to do this, the findings and the conclusions made.
The work has been peer reviewed by Professor Dan Graham of Imperial College London.
