The effect of accessibility on retail rents: testing integration value as a measure of geographic location

This article investigates cross-sectional variation in retail rents on the micro level, i.e. differences in rent for shops on street X compared to shops on street Y. Retail rents from the inner city of Stockholm are analysed. Free standing shops dominate the database (i.e. not located in malls). Differences in rent across locations is modelled with distance to the city centre, distance to sub-centres within inner city Stockholm, city part dummies and so-called integration values. Integration values have shown a strong correlation to pedestrian and other types of traffic. Loosely speaking, the integration value for a particular location in an urban area is the average number of turns a pedestrian must make to reach other locations in the city. In this study it is interpreted as a measure of accessibility. It is hypothesised that locations with high (low) integration values typically have high (low) retail rent. Integration values are found to complement the traditional location measures distance to city centre/sub-centres and city part dummies. Integration values can be calculated for urban areas that have not yet been built. They may, thus, be useful in the planning of new urban areas and for predicting retail rents.