A recent study, published in the London Evening Standard last week, compared 12 iconic urban parks in the world in terms of the value of the real estate they occupy. The results: Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is the most expensive urban green space in the world. It is worth more than $49 billion. The study calculated values by multiplying the size of the park by the average apartment value per sq/m in the city. Central Park in New York, which is smaller than Golden Gate Park, is worth more than $45 billion based on New York property prices.
Obviously the cultural capital enjoyed by these parks outweighs their monetary value. Let’s hope that doesn’t change!
golden gate park: views from the thicket 
Thank You for this great post.
“Today, we must realize that nature is revealed in the simplest meadow, wood lot, marsh, stream, or tidepool, as well as in the remote grandeur of our parks and wilderness areas.”
– Ansel Adams
Of course you knew someone would do this calculation eventually; fascinating nonetheless. Add in the theoretical value of the Marin Headlands (which could have been “Marincello” if not for the efforts of natural space activists) and you have an astronomical number …