Cities are made of people, by people and for people. Sustainable measures will have to make sense to inhabitants of cities, making their life more liveable. Furthermore, it is people who drive sustainability and who are its ultimate source and beneficiaries. This vision underpins the notion of...

The distribution of transport infrastructure across space is the outcome of deliberate government planning that reflects a desire to unlock the welfare gains from regional economic integration. Yet, despite being one of the oldest government activities, the economic forces shaping the endogenous...

The US population has been migrating to places with high perceived quality of life. Theoretically, such migration can follow from the increasing demand for amenities that accompanies increasing wealth. Under the baseline calibration of a general equilibrium model, a place with amenities for...

This paper assesses differences in life satisfaction along the urban-rural continuum in 111 countries across all world regions. It combines survey data with a consistent definition of settlements to maximise international comparability. Globally, once controlled for individual characteristics,...

This paper contrasts two dominant views of migration. One involves movements to arbitrage disequilibrium in labor markets, while the other takes a more urban economic view of equilibrium in which on-going migration is seen as a response to changing demands for non-traded amenities as incomes...

Individuals and households choose their political jurisdiction of residence on the basis of expected income differentials and jurisdiction-specific characteristics covered by the general term "amenities.'' In addition to fixed characteristics like climate and terrain, amenities may include...