Are Cities Dying?
Open Access
- 1 May 1998
- journal article
- Published by American Economic Association in Journal of Economic Perspectives
- Vol. 12 (2) , 139-160
- https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.12.2.139
Abstract
This paper organizes a discussion of the costs and benefits of cities around the question: Are cities becoming obsolete? While minimizing transport costs for manufactured goods no longer justifies the existence of cities, they still facilitate the division of labor and the flow of ideas. Cities' higher housing, commuting, and pollution costs seem stable over time. Only the costs associated with urban poverty may increase and these costs do not effect many newer cities. Although many older cities will continue their decline, the future of the urban form seems surprisingly bright.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Industrial Development in CitiesJournal of Political Economy, 1995
- Productivity Gains from Geographic Concentration of Human Capital: Evidence from the CitiesJournal of Urban Economics, 1993
- Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent CitationsThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1993
- Growth in CitiesJournal of Political Economy, 1992
- The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and KnowledgeThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1992
- Social Osmosis and Patterns of CrimeJournal of Political Economy, 1991
- Increasing Returns and Economic GeographyJournal of Political Economy, 1991
- Legal Restrictions, "Sunspots," and Peel's Bank Act: The Real Bills Doctrine versus the Quantity Theory ReconsideredJournal of Political Economy, 1988
- Wages, Rents, and the Quality of LifeJournal of Political Economy, 1982
- Urbanism as a Way of LifeAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1938