Identification, Valuation, and Conversion of Ecological Asset Value for Residential Land: Methods and Case Study

Traditional land evaluation systems lack an independent quantitative assessment of the ecological value of residential land, resulting in significant theoretical and methodological limitations. Existing evaluation standards primarily focus on economic value, whereas ecological value is considered only implicitly and is not reported separately. This deficiency systematically underestimates the ecological value of residential land, distorts land transaction prices, and constrains the improvement of land transfer systems and ecological compensation mechanisms. This study proposes a methodology based on ecosystem service theory to identify, quantify, value, and convert the ecological value of residential land. The methodology was empirically validated using eight residential land parcels (703.99–1296.05 m2) in Yantai City, Shandong Province, China. Across the eight land parcels, ecological asset values range from USD 0.3891 million to USD 8.6161 million. The proportion of underestimated ecological asset value ranges from 22.05% to 40.22%. Among the eight parcels, only one has undergone a land transaction in which ecological and economic values were priced separately, resulting in a total transaction price of USD 60.6293 million. For this parcel, the total ecological asset value is USD 5.6624 million, generating an ecological income of USD 6.0496 million. Its total economic value is USD 51.0863 million, generating an economic income of USD 54.5797 million. The corresponding ecological asset value conversion rate is 106.84%. Because the remaining parcels have similar geographical locations and market conditions to the transacted parcel, the same ecological asset value conversion rate was applied to estimate their ecological income. Based on this approach, the estimated ecological income from the transfer of the eight residential land parcels ranges from USD 0.4150 million to USD 9.2061 million. This study addresses the prevailing economic bias in conventional land evaluation methods. It provides a feasible technical framework for the explicit quantification and independent valuation of the ecological asset value of residential land. The ecological income generated through this approach provides a potential new source of funding for land-based ecological protection and restoration. It also promotes greater coordination between the land transfer market and ecological compensation mechanisms.