In what may be seen as a reversal of traditional development priorities, property developers are discovering that biodiversity isn’t just good for the planet—it’s good for profits.
Research for the Nature Based Cities (NBC) initiative reveals significant price premiums and accelerated sales for properties rich in green space, challenging the concrete-and-glass paradigm that has dominated urban construction for decades.
Speaking at a developer roundtable hosted by The Urban Developer in partnership with Hamton, Paul Hameister said there was “a significant premium for residential real estate with high proliferation of mature trees or green space”.
Hameister founded NBC in 2022 after seeing how nature-focused developments outperformed conventional projects in the marketplace.
The initiative comes as UN research shows more than two-thirds of humanity is projected to live in urban environments by 2050, creating generations who may grow up without meaningful connections to nature.
Population projections show residential growth continuing within inner-city regions, with growth rates in these areas either matching or outpacing outer regions.
This trend is driving the need for inner urban areas to densify housing while simultaneously increasing the appeal and value of living near parks and open spaces.
The combination of limited green space and growing populations means the value of existing green areas continues to rise, particularly as flexible work arrangements and a focus on wellbeing drive demand for developments that offer convenience, proximity and connectivity with nature.
Unlike traditional sustainability frameworks that focus on energy efficiency and carbon reduction, NBC places living landscapes at the centre of development philosophy.
Research commissioned by NBC and conducted by the University of Melbourne and Urbis shows the tangible commercial benefits of nature-based design.
The University of Melbourne study identifies the critical role of urban green spaces in creating sustainable, liveable cities.
One such project in Barangaroo, Sydney, a container terminal was converted into a mixed-use precinct with native vegetation, green roofs, and water-positive systems, achieving carbon neutrality and revitalising the local economy.
Properties with higher green-space proximity consistently commanded higher prices, faster sales, and better rental growth across existing and new developments, NBC/Urbis research found.
A detailed analysis of nearly 500 park-fronting property resales revealed that these properties achieved capital growth 0.7 percentage points greater than surrounding market averages, with some locations reaching impressive growth rates of up to 16 per cent annually.
On average, homes facing parks commanded price premiums of 28 per cent for units and 19 per cent for houses over a three-year period, with even stronger long-term performance over 10 years at 38 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
This research provided a solid business case for developers to increase their investment in natural elements, Hameister said.
The NBC framework includes a scorecard system developed in collaboration with landscape architecture firm Tract.
The system evaluates developments across 10 criteria, including views and site planning, private and communal open spaces, retention of existing trees, canopy cover, biodiversity, ecology, planted area and vertical greening.
Projects can achieve Commended, Excellent, or Exemplary certification levels, with marketing collateral provided to help differentiate and promote developments in the marketplace.
One of the most significant, perhaps disturbing, findings from NBC’s industry analysis is that none of Australia’s Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) rating tools currently mandate living landscape elements.
This means a development can achieve the highest sustainability ratings while containing no natural elements whatsoever—a gap the NBC platform directly addresses.
The organisation has been advocating for changes to rating systems, with some progress being made towards recognition of biodiversity metrics.
Real-world applications are already demonstrating the value proposition.
Hameister’s Moonee Valley Park development, which created a 16ha botanical park before constructing buildings, achieved consistent sales of 10 apartments monthly for two straight years.
Other developers report that apartments facing internal gardens—traditionally considered difficult to sell—are now selling faster, indicating a shift in buyer preferences towards nature-integrated living spaces.
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It’s a significant shift from historical assumptions that internally facing apartments are less desirable.
Milieu senior development manager (BTR) Jesse Legge is one such proponent. Legge tells The Urban Developer that “apartments that we actually thought would be the hardest to sell off the plan are selling first”.
“They are apartments that face internally into the development, but face into the gardens,” Legge says.
NBC studies of infill masterplan sites around Australia further validate Legge’s report, with Melbourne ‘green’ developments showing average price premiums up to 34 per cent, rental premiums up to 23 per cent, and capital growth rates up to 15 per cent a year.
New South Wales projects have even stronger results, with price premiums reaching 32 per cent, rental premiums soaring to 65 per cent, and capital growth rates of up to 30 per cent a year.
International examples show similar patterns, with London’s Elephant Park recording an 89 per cent price premium for two-bedroom apartments compared with surrounding areas.
The commercial office sector is also seeing benefits, says Salta Property Group senior development manager—commercial office development Adam DiClemente.
He reports premium rents up to 36 per cent higher for spaces with access to quality green areas—be they at ground level, balconies or on rooftops.
The NBC found that the value of incorporating nature extends beyond residential applications to commercial properties, where tenant well-being and productivity gains provide additional return on investment.
The challenge of squeezing biodiversity into increasingly dense city environments has led to more developers of compact sites and highrises seeking innovative pathways to certification.
The NBC team says the scorecard system is designed to be flexible, with multiple pathways to certification that don’t necessarily require extensive ground-level plantings. These include vertical gardens, green roofs, and innovative integration of nature within building structures.
With the introduction of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), banks and lenders will soon work within a transformed regulatory landscape.
The TNFD has developed disclosure recommendations and guidance that “encourage and enable business and finance to assess, report and act on their nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities”.
This framework aims to redirect global financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes toward nature-positive investments that align with the Global Biodiversity Framework—creating a financial ecosystem where biodiversity becomes bankable.
Ideally, this regulatory shift may also encourage green lending products that could provide preferential financing terms for NBC-certified developments, Hameister says.
At the very least, discussions are under way with authorities about how NBC certification might be recognised within planning schemes, potentially offsetting some council contributions or streamlining approval processes for exemplary nature-based designs.
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United Nations’ targets for increasing urban green areas are becoming more pressing. As awareness of climate and biodiversity crises grows, the Nature Based Cities initiative positions itself as a practical framework for developers to contribute meaningfully while capturing untapped market value.
“What we’ve found is there is a significant premium for residential real estate in existing homes plus new homes,” Hameister says.
“There’s a premium in the capital growth. There’s a premium for the rental growth. It’s basically a comprehensive commercial return for an over-investment in nature.”
