Validating street-level perceptual attributes with location choice models

Abstract

Built and natural elements can shape users’ experience and valuation of urban space. Users’ behavior, such as their location choices, can also be affected by their evaluation of street-level perceptual attributes, although this relation is more difficult to measure. We propose a model that tests if the qualitative variables of urban sceneries developed by Rossetti et al (Rossetti, Lobel, Rocco, & Hurtubia, 2019) help explain residential location decisions. We use a bid-auction location choice model to get empirical results from two datasets of located households in the Chilean cities of Santiago and Temuco. Results show significant parameters for street-level qualitative attributes (beautiful, wealthy, etc.), which indicates the importance of this type of information to understand and predict users’ behavior.