The Price of Cool: Using Hedonic Modelling to Assess Spatial Inequalities of Air Conditioning Access in Madrid

ABSTRACT Air‐conditioned homes make hot summers more comfortable and can mitigate the effect of heat on health, which is a growing concern in increasingly hot urban areas. The following research uses a large property listings data set to investigate neighbourhood‐level spatial inequities in access to residential air‐conditioning (AC) in Madrid, Spain. A hedonic model is used to assess the effect of AC on housing prices and a multi‐level model to estimate how the effect varies between neighbourhoods. The paper shows the high housing value uplift of AC systems and, furthermore, key neighbourhood and district inequalities in access to, and the price of, air‐conditioned properties. The spatial interaction between AC access and socioeconomic and neighbourhood factors is further assessed to characterise the populations and areas deprived of cool. We identify vulnerable neighbourhoods characterised by a lower prevalence of AC, higher cost of this amenity in the housing stock and low incomes, contributing a new dimension to understandings of summer energy poverty.