The influence of urban sprawl on farmland prices in Belgium

Since over half a century, Europe has been undergoing periurbanization; this phenomenon is similar to suburbanisation or ìurban sprawlî in the U.S. Hence, for each plot of land, there is competition for land use (agriculture, urbanisation). We here study the effect of urban sprawl on the price of farmland in Belgium. Using a set of very traditional urban economics variables, we show that the determinants of residential prices also explain the spatial variation of farmland. Indeed, the prospect of conversion from agriculture to residential land uses are high in Belgium, which is a densely inhab... Mehr ...