Valuation Mapping of Rural Areas in Central Turkey: A Model Proposal Case Study

Abstract In addition to the usual concerns that governments face, managing agriculture and agricultural areas is a significant issue. As a result, a country's agricultural production is highly dependent on its land potential. The transformation of agricultural areas into construction sites will be more attractive for the proprietors if they are not valued at their actual worth. This study applies and compares two different valuation methods, income and nominal land value approaches, to evaluate land in rural area, Cankiri Province, Catalelma Village, Central Turkey. In Turkey, income valuation method is typically applied for dealing with financial matters related to agricultural areas. On the other hand, one of the statistical methods, nominal valuation, was also used in the study area by applying the spatial analysis functions of geographical information system (GIS). In this study, four sample parcels representing three different land use capability classes (two irrigable, one medium, and one barren) were selected for comparison of two valuation methods. The results obtained during this research demonstrate that the nominal valuation approach produced more accurate results than the income method, and it may be used in the country's local administrative units due to available data.