Breaking new ground in heritage valuation: A comprehensive use of discrete choice experiments

Heritage authorities must decide which places to protect, yet valuation studies often examine a single named site. We develop a common description of buildings, historic sites and landscapes and test it in a discrete choice experiment with 1,613 Victorian respondents. Baseline support differs among asset types. Nineteenth-century age and excellent condition raise mean willingness to pay in all three categories, while distance has different effects across them. Images affect stated values in joint tests, although many individual image contrasts remain uncertain. A worked courthouse profile shows how the characteristics combine into an individual one-off value. Shared attributes enable comparisons across a diverse stock, but their monetary values are not interchangeable and have not been validated for new places. The framework can structure heritage appraisal while making these limits explicit.