Course Description
Economic aspects of urbanization with an emphasis on inter- and intra-metropolitan location decisions of households and firms. Analysis of land, housing, and transportation markets and of local public finance and public policy in metropolitan areas.
Athena Title
Urban Economics
Prerequisite
ECON 4010
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The course considers the economics of urban and regional markets with an emphasis on location decisions of people and firms, growth and development of cities, optimal city size, transportation, housing markets, social problems, amenities, and quality of life. Public regulation and spending – including land use regulation, taxation, and local public services – will be studied from the perspective of local governments. Students will have the opportunity to use the tools of microeconomics to explain a variety of local economic phenomena; incorporate geography, maps, and spatial analysis into an economics class; apply the principles of the class to analyze real local policies and urban problems faced by specific cities around the world; and ponder why some people believe cities are our greatest invention.
Topical Outline
Review of microeconomics and statistics Location theory The economic function of cities Economic rents The monocentric city model and empirical tests (The Alonso/Muth/Mills model) Urban growth Agglomeration City size Economic development Economic geography Real estate markets Housing and housing policies The hedonic approach to housing Local labor markets Sorting, quality of life and amenities (The Rosen/Robak/Albouy model) Tiebout sorting Zoning and regulations The property tax Local public finance Municipal tax competition Urban infrastructure Urban transportation Urban social problems/poverty Crime in urban areas Empirical urban and regional economics
Syllabus