The desirability of city size can only be judged in relation to the preferences of individuals for production and consumption economies and diseconomies of scale. A model based on plausible utility functions and the free migration of utility-maximising individuals generates a well-spaced city...

The occupation of residential space imposes externalities on those travelling from the outer margin of that space to the city centre. The free market price does match the social cost under many models of city structure, and so promotes optimal occupation of space, provided that all journeys are...