1# RECORD 63d3e41634a76fe68a3edb5f056b73b7098ad5232# TITLE: The Impact of Water Body Restoration on the Sales and Rental Markets in Beijing3# YEAR: 2023.0 VENUE: Land Economics DOI: 10.3368/le.99.4.041322-0030r14# AUTHORS: Ying-Dan Mei; P. Liu; Li Gao5# PAGES: 36 CANDIDATE TABLE PAGES (1-based): [30, 31]6# ABSTRACT: Black and odorous water bodies (BOWBs) are increasingly common in cities worldwide. This article evaluates the impact of an urban water bodies restoration program in Beijing, China, based on detailed housing sale and rental transaction data. We implement a hedonic price model with a difference-in-difference and a triple-difference approach and find that listing and restoring a BOWB significantly increase house prices by 2.2%–3.9% and 2.3%–4.9%, respectively, and increases rents by 11.3%–13.7% and 13.4%–16.9%, respectively.789===== PAGE 1 (score 3, numeric-paren 0, table-words 0, var-words 3) =====10111 12 13The Impact of Water Body Restoration on the Sales and Rental Markets in Beijing 14Yingdan Mei, Associate Professor, School of Applied Economics, Renmin University of China, 15Beijing, PR China; meiyingdan@vip.sina.com 16Pengfei Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Resource Economics, 17University of Rhode Island, Kingston; pengfei_liu@uri.edu 18Li Gao, Associate Professor, School of Economics and Management, China University of 19Petroleum Beijing, Beijing, PR China; gaolicup@126.com 20 21Abstract: 22Black and odorous water bodies (BOWBs) are increasingly common in cities worldwide. This 23paper evaluates the impact of an urban water bodies restoration program in Beijing, China, based 24on detailed housing sale and rental transaction data. We implement a hedonic price model with a 25difference-in-difference and a triple difference approach and find that listing and restoration of a 26BOWB significantly increase house prices by 2.2-3.9 percent and 2.3-4.9 percent, respectively, 27while at the same time increase rents by 11.3-13.7 percent and 13.4-16.9 percent, respectively. 28 29Keywords: hedonic price model; urban water body restoration; rent; sales price 30 31 32doi:10.3368/le.99.4.041322-0030R133by guest on October 20, 2026. Copyright 202334Downloaded from 353637===== PAGE 30 (score 83, numeric-paren 53, table-words 11, var-words 0) =====38392 40 41Table 2. The effect of restoration of BOWBs on housing values: Difference-in-Difference results 42 43(1) 44(2) 45(3) 46(4) 47(5) 48(6) 49(7) 50(8) 51 520-500m 530-600m 540-700m 550-800m 560-900m 570-1,000m 580-1,100m 590-1,200m 60Panel A: Sales market 61Interim × Near 620.0309*** 630.0193* 640.0133 650.0117 660.0128 670.0103 680.0104 690.0091 70 71(0.0109) 72(0.0102) 73(0.0100) 74(0.0093) 75(0.0091) 76(0.0085) 77(0.0083) 78(0.0079) 79Post × Near 800.0384** 810.0272* 820.0253 830.0235 840.0233* 850.0195 860.0175 870.0149 88 89(0.0155) 90(0.0154) 91(0.0154) 92(0.0141) 93(0.0138) 94(0.0132) 95(0.0132) 96(0.0129) 97Control variables 98× 99× 100× 101× 102× 103× 104× 105× 106Month FE 107× 108× 109× 110× 111× 112× 113× 114× 115BOWB FE 116× 117× 118× 119× 120× 121× 122× 123× 124Ring-road FE 125× 126× 127× 128× 129× 130× 131× 132× 133District × year FE 134× 135× 136× 137× 138× 139× 140× 141× 142Observations 14370521 14473702 14575582 14677308 14778815 14880924 14982574 15084547 151Adj R-squared 1520.8651 1530.8642 1540.8639 1550.8642 1560.8638 1570.8637 1580.8640 1590.8645 160Panel B: Rental market 161Interim × Near 1620.0593*** 1630.0415** 1640.0336* 1650.0302* 1660.0292* 1670.0312** 1680.0286** 1690.0296** 170 171(0.0179) 172(0.0190) 173(0.0179) 174(0.0164) 175(0.0152) 176(0.0135) 177(0.0127) 178(0.0124) 179Post × Near 1800.0808*** 1810.0547** 1820.0480** 1830.0429* 1840.0390* 1850.0387** 1860.0354** 1870.0361** 188 189(0.0223) 190(0.0244) 191(0.0237) 192(0.0215) 193(0.0201) 194(0.0182) 195(0.0169) 196(0.0163) 197Control variables 198× 199× 200× 201× 202× 203× 204× 205× 206Month FE 207× 208× 209× 210× 211× 212× 213× 214× 215BOWB FE 216× 217× 218× 219× 220× 221× 222× 223× 224Ring-road FE 225× 226× 227× 228× 229× 230× 231× 232× 233District × year FE 234× 235× 236× 237× 238× 239× 240× 241× 242Observations 24363283 24465502 24567124 24668711 24770282 24871757 24973338 25075001 251Adj R-squared 2520.8799 2530.8794 2540.8795 2550.8794 2560.8790 2570.8784 2580.8791 2590.8795 260Note: This table reports regression coefficients from 16 separate regressions, 8 per panel. The dependent variable is Log(sales prices) in Panel A, and 261Log(monthly rent) in Panel B. Both the regression sample and the buffer distance denoted by “Near” change as one moves across the columns, indicated by the 262column headings. Properties outside the buffer zone are all located within 1,200-3000 meters of a BOWB for all regressions. All standard errors in the 263parentheses are clustered at the BOWB level. 264 265***Significant at the 1 percent level. 266 267 **Significant at the 5 percent level. 268 269 *Significant at the 10 percent level. 270 271 272by guest on October 20, 2026. Copyright 2023273Downloaded from 274275276===== PAGE 31 (score 91, numeric-paren 61, table-words 11, var-words 0) =====2772783 279 280Table 3. The effect of restoration of BOWBs on housing values: Triple difference results 281 282(1) 283(2) 284(3) 285(4) 286(5) 287(6) 288(7) 289(8) 290 2910-500m 2920-600m 2930-700m 2940-800m 2950-900m 2960-1,000m 2970-1,100m 2980-1,200m 299Panel A: Sales market 300Treat × Interim × Near 3010.0388** 3020.0301* 3030.0261 3040.0247 3050.0297** 3060.0244* 3070.0239* 3080.0219* 309 310(0.0182) 311(0.0163) 312(0.0164) 313(0.0159) 314(0.0143) 315(0.0136) 316(0.0124) 317(0.0119) 318Treat × Post × Near 3190.0486** 3200.0353* 3210.0353* 3220.0333* 3230.0350** 3240.0306* 3250.0275* 3260.0230 327 328(0.0190) 329(0.0179) 330(0.0185) 331(0.0170) 332(0.0162) 333(0.0160) 334(0.0154) 335(0.0152) 336Control variables 337× 338× 339× 340× 341× 342× 343× 344× 345Month FE 346× 347× 348× 349× 350× 351× 352× 353× 354BOWB FE 355× 356× 357× 358× 359× 360× 361× 362× 363Ring-road FE 364× 365× 366× 367× 368× 369× 370× 371× 372District × year FE 373× 374× 375× 376× 377× 378× 379× 380× 381Observations 382101542 383108110 384113477 385118147 386122778 387127301 388130953 389134272 390Adj R-squared 3910.8478 3920.8476 3930.8476 3940.8497 3950.8499 3960.8499 3970.8513 3980.8520 399Panel B: Rental market 400Treat × Interim × Near 4010.1369*** 4020.1139*** 4030.1167*** 4040.1189*** 4050.1199*** 4060.1191*** 4070.1164*** 4080.1133*** 409 410(0.0364) 411(0.0354) 412(0.0334) 413(0.0339) 414(0.0343) 415(0.0334) 416(0.0326) 417(0.0318) 418Treat × Post × Near 4190.1685*** 4200.1399*** 4210.1453*** 4220.1448*** 4230.1439*** 4240.1416*** 4250.1375*** 4260.1338*** 427 428(0.0457) 429(0.0446) 430(0.0429) 431(0.0434) 432(0.0442) 433(0.0430) 434(0.0416) 435(0.0405) 436Control variables 437× 438× 439× 440× 441× 442× 443× 444× 445Month FE 446× 447× 448× 449× 450× 451× 452× 453× 454BOWB FE 455× 456× 457× 458× 459× 460× 461× 462× 463Ring-road FE 464× 465× 466× 467× 468× 469× 470× 471× 472District × year FE 473× 474× 475× 476× 477× 478× 479× 480× 481Observations 48293166 48398950 484104009 485108356 486113663 487117542 488121283 489124185 490Adj R-squared 4910.8550 4920.8539 4930.8542 4940.8558 4950.8567 4960.8548 4970.8558 4980.8563 499Note: This table reports regression coefficients from 16 separate regressions, 8 per panel. The dependent variable is Log(sales prices) in Panel A, and 500Log(monthly rent) in Panel B. Both the regression sample and the buffer distance denoted by “Near” change as one moves across the columns, indicated by the 501column headings. Properties outside the buffer zone are all located within 1,200-3000 meters of a BOWB for all regressions. All standard errors in the 502parentheses are clustered at the BOWB level. 503 504***Significant at the 1 percent level. 505 506 **Significant at the 5 percent level. 507 508 *Significant at the 10 percent level. 509 510 511by guest on October 20, 2026. Copyright 2023512Downloaded from 513514515===== PAGE 32 (score 0, numeric-paren 0, table-words 0, var-words 0) =====5165174 518 519 520 521Figure 1. The timeline of restoration for urban BOWBs in Beijing 522 523 524by guest on October 20, 2026. Copyright 2023525Downloaded from 526