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Value of green infrastructure in sustainable urban development

One of the main obstacles to commercialization of innovations is a challenge when assessing the size, interest and dimension of product application. The economic factors that are related to market interest and the customer's willingness to pay are heavily influenced by the decision to commercialize a product idea. Market analyses and customer surveys aim to identify the need and assess customer value to satisfy this need. The form of communication in this process is extremely important because customers' perceptions and understanding are crucial to the response to the project, the needs to be satisfied and how it is valued.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to sustainable development by examining the interests of customers, their experience and appreciation of green infrastructure. In addition, we study how different forms of communication affect the perception and evaluation process. 

The results from the project contribute to the use of digitization and can give rise to technological development and the way to do business. We use us and the technology that is already very well established and gained enormous development in the gaming industry. Virtual reality has been used fragmentally in the construction industry, but rarely in communication with the customer in the housing market. In this project we want the effect of such communication at the individual level, but also in context of the construction process, urban planning and management.

This study was conducted in Sweden and Australia between 2018-2023. The project was financed by The Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research and Charity (Familjen Kamprads stiftelse), project number 20180145. Research team includes researchers in Sweden Agnieszka Zalejska Jonsson, KTH (project leader), Richard Wahlund Stockholm School of Economics and in Australia Sara Wilkinson and Rebecca Cunningham from University Technology Sydney (UTS).

Publications:

 Zalejska - Jonsson, A., Wilkinson, S.J., Wahlund, R., 2020. Willingness to Pay for Green Infrastructure in Residential Development—A Consumer Perspective. Atmosphere 11, 152. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11020152

Wilkinson S.J., Ghosh, S., Zalejska-Jonsson, A., 2019. Don't reach for the chainsaw yet - Good green infrastructure can add up to $50K value to a Sydney house. The Conversation September 2019.  https://theconversation.com/trees-can-add-50-000-value-to-a-sydney-house-so-you-might-want-to-put-down-that-chainsaw-122710

Wilkinson S.J., Zalejska-Jonsson, A., 2019. Using VR to assess willingness to pay for green infrastructure in Swedish residential development. AIQS journal. September 2019. pp.31-32. https://issuu.com/aiqs_be/docs/tbe19sep

Zalejska-Jonsson, A., Wilkinson, S., Wahlund, R., Cunningham, R., (2023)”Green paradise or concrete castles, apartment buyer perceptions and green infrastructure”, KTH, Stockholm TRITRA-ABE-RPT-2320, http://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1811246/FULLTEXT01.pdf

About the project short film: https://youtu.be/kFkF2pdaOGM

We created 5  coutyards to visualise different greenery levels. Each version of the property and its courtyard was visualised in three dimensions and from two different positions, thus allowing for active 360-degree viewing, both upward and downward. Observers could alter the point from which the property and its courtyard were viewed and adjust the viewing angle. This provided each viewer with ample opportunities to experience the courtyard in various ways based on personal preferences.

The views were created using the software 3D Studio Max. Each view was then assigned a texture and reflection to replicate it as realistically as possible. Once a view was completed, it was converted into a panorama with the aid of the software Vray. For each view, the sphere in which the user is situated when looking around to explore the property and its courtyard was also created. The camera acts as the user’s ‘eyes’ and can be moved around in the static sphere, which has the panorama image textured on its interior. The virtual views could then be accessed on Google Cloud, for which a JavaScript API was used to render interactive 2D or 3D graphics in the browser. 

Movie presents all views used in the project

https://play.kth.se/media/Green+inneg%C3%A5rd+-+five+greenery+levels/0_kxe44qef

 

Movie presents level 1 greenery 

https://play.kth.se/media/Courtyard+with+greenery+level+1/0_8xipulj3

Movie presents level 2 greenery 

https://play.kth.se/media/Courtyard+with+greenery+level+2/0_7z3x0rpk

Movie presents level 3 greenery 

https://play.kth.se/media/Courtyard+with+greenery+level+3/0_6jzquecc

Movie presents level 4 greenery 

https://play.kth.se/media/Courtyard+with+greenery+level+4/0_w9tdjy12

Movie presents level 5 greenery 

https://play.kth.se/media/Courtyard+with+greenery+level+5/0_fvdlwvpj