We examine the effect of a large-scale administrative reorganization in China, where counties are annexed into cities to accommodate urban growth. We present a simple model to illustrate how this annexation may affect firm entry decisions and in turn land market outcomes. Using nationwide data...

Wage growth is stronger in larger cities, but this relationship holds exclusively for non-manual workers. Using rich German administrative data, I study the heterogeneity in the pecuniary value of big city experience, a measure of dynamic agglomeration economies, and its consequences for the...

This paper extends the urban growth model of Duranton and Puga (2022) to explore the impact of cities on local firms and households and the aggregate economy of Germany. We adopt alternative micro-foundations for agglomeration economies and a non-linear specification of human capital...

Cities in growth regions face major urban development challenges in meeting the demand for housing within the city. At the same time, capacity limits of urban technical infrastructures may arise and counteract the guiding principle of compact and thus land-saving inner development. The project...

Urbanization has led to the rapid expansion of cities, and it has resulted in the increase of various environmental impacts. The essence of this study is to geospatially assess environmental impact of urban growth in Akure South, Nigeria with a view to evaluate air pollution, soil and water...

Previous studies report mixed findings on the causal relationship between language diversity and its representation of cultural diversity, and economic and social development. We consider language relatedness a prerequisite for language diversity research, and theoretically analyze the impact of...

Heterogeneous and unplanned urban growth, with inadequate infrastructure and smaller housing and built up areas is a common feature in developing countries. The existing modelling approaches over the years in understanding urban heterogeneity, however, may not be able to apprehend heterogeneous...

How does an area’s proximity to big cities affect its growth? Using county-level data from China for 1990–2020, we find that an area’s being close to big cities (in the 150–250 km range) reduces the decadal population growth rate by 2.8–3.8 percentage points. Initial agricultural...

Urbanization in Ethiopia is increasing rapidly, leading to environmental changes and necessitating improved urban infrastructure. Dire Dawa, the second most populous city in Ethiopia, has a high rate of urban growth. However, there is no clear plan for a viable water supply source. This study...

As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data, it shows that settlements across the world...

As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data, it shows that settlements across the world...

Despite the wealth of micro-macro data on short-term demographic dynamics, the impact of metropolitan growth and economic downturns on local fertility is still under-investigated in advanced economies. Recent studies in low-fertility contexts have assumed suburban birth rates as being...

As countries rapidly urbanize, settlements are expanding into hazardous flood zones. This study provides a global analysis of spatial urbanization patterns and the evolution of flood exposure between 1985 and 2015. Using high-resolution annual data, it shows that settlements across the world...

The paper estimates the political connection premium for Italian cities tracked during the second half of the 1900s, when the role of the state in the economy was very widespread. It leverages the peculiar features of the gridlocked political landscape in place between the end of World War II...

It has long been understood that public utilities, and especially sewers, play a powerful role in shaping patterns, rates, and forms of urban development. But decisions about whether and where to build this “growth-shaping” infrastructure are largely left to local communities, who frequently...

Housing markets vary across growing cities and declining cities, which creates heterogeneous responses of housing prices to monetary policy. We classify urban growth and urban decline based on the population growth rates at the MSA level. Using the local projections method, we find that housing...

This Inquiry final report brings together three separate research projects to examine the capacity of Australia’s smaller cities to assist in managing population growth, including international and national migration; and provides advice on which policy instruments and programs are most likely...

Whilst China experiences long-term rapid urbanization, urban shrinkage, as a new normal, has become a common phenomenon in urban development along with growth. In this study, we established an octahedral urban growth-shrinkage model from the dimensions of population, economy, and space. We...

Urban sprawl in metropolitan cities of India is a distressing concern for planners. Not only, it is underachieved but it is neglected. This study attempts to help in understanding the gap by studying urban sprawl in 5 assembly constituencies (ACs) of Lucknow city of India, through urban growth...

We examine the effect of a large-scale administrative reorganization in China, where counties are annexed into cities to accommodate urban growth. We present a simple model to illustrate how this annexation may affect firm entry decisions and in turn land market outcomes. Using nationwide data...

Process of economic growth and development has been shifted towards new strategies of entrepreneurship, institutional developments and market development. The shifting of development process towards new strategies needs human capital, developed infrastructure and effective policy reforms. This...

Previous work on transportation investments has focused on average impacts in high- and middle-income countries. We estimate average and heterogeneous effects in a poor continent, Africa, using roads and cities data spanning 50 years in 39 countries. Using changes in market access due to distant...

Social capital is often place-specific while schooling is portable, so the prospect of migration may reduce the returns to social capital and increase the returns to schooling. If social capital matters for urban success, it is possible that an area can get caught in a bad equilibrium where the...

The paper estimates the political connection premium for Italian cities tracked during the second half of the 1900s, when the role of the state in the economy was very widespread. It leverages the peculiar features of the gridlocked political landscape in place between the end of World War II...

Urban structures and urban growth rates are highly persistent. This has far-reaching implications for the optimal size and timing of new construction. We prove that rational developers postpone construction not because prospects are gloomy, but because they are bright. The slow mean reversion in...

According to Gibrat’s law for cities, population shocks have permanent effects on city size. I examine this implication by analysing the persistence of observed population shocks: German military casualties in WWI by municipality of birth. I find a strong negative effect of military casualties...

Cities will be home to 2 billion new residents by 2045, and the pressure to develop land in and around cities is growing. This will pose a great challenge to lower-income cities since they tend to grow through slums and other informal settlements. Slum residents have inadequate and inequitable...

Towns and cities are economic and social microcosms in which large numbers of people and firms interact. These interactions largely shape how a city looks, how it functions, and how it grows. But how exactly does this many-sided relationship work? What are the specific drivers of urban economic...

We study the link between subnational capital cities and urban development using a global data set of hundreds of first-order administrative and capital city reforms from 1987 until 2018. We show that gaining subnational capital status has a sizable effect on city growth in the medium run. We...

The 1990s were an unusually good decade for the largest American cities and, in particular, for the cities of the Midwest. However, fundamentally urban growth in the 1990s looked extremely similar to urban growth during the prior post-war decades. The growth of cities was determined by three...

This paper analyzes the contribution of import competition to the regional divergence among US metropolitan areas over recent decades. I document that the sharp rise in imports of Chinese manufacturing goods had a significant effect on the spatial skill polarization and the divergence of college...