Testing the Monocentric Urban Model: Evidence Based on Wasteful Commuting

Recent papers have questioned the ability of the monocentric urban model to account for urban development patterns. Most damaging are estimates of wasteful commuting that indicate actual commuting may be eight times as large as efficient commuting predicted by the strong form of the monocentric model. This study recomputes previous estimates of wasteful commuting in a monocentric city that relaxes the strong form assumption that all households are identical. The recomputed estimates indicate that actual commuting is only twice as large as efficient commuting, a result generally consistent with the monocentric model. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.