The Association Between SOC and Land Prices Considering Spatial Heterogeneity Based on Finite Mixture Modeling

An understanding of how Social Overhead Capital (SOC) is associated with the land value of the local community is important for effective urban planning. However, even within a district, there are multiple sections used for different purposes; the term for this is spatial heterogeneity. The spatial heterogeneity issue has to be considered when attempting to comprehend land prices. If there is spatial heterogeneity within a district, land prices can be managed by adopting the spatial clustering method. In this study, spatial attributes including SOC, socio-demographic features, and spatial information in a specific district are analyzed with Finite Mixture Modeling (FMM) in order to find (a) the optimal number of clusters and (b) the association among SOCs, socio-demographic features, and land prices. FMM is a tool used to find clusters and the attributes' coefficients simultaneously. Using the FMM method, the results show that four clusters exist in one district and the four clusters have different associations among SOCs, demographic features, and land prices. Policymakers and managerial administration need to look for information to make policy about land prices. The current study finds the consideration of closeness to SOC to be a significant factor on land prices and suggests the potential policy direction related to SOC.