Category: 2952-338 Urban Economics and Policy

Today is our last meeting before the midterm exam. Next week we will meet online at our regular time to introduce you to the online writing platform. This should not take more than 1-2 hours. In two weeks there will be no meeting since that is midterms week. You will be given the midterm questions next week and submissions will be due on Wednesday, October 12th. Our regular meetings will resume in three weeks on the 12th of October.

Today’s plan:

• • Discuss the McCann article/chapter.  We will discuss the provided set of questions.
  • Begin the Urban Spatial Structure topic in which we will start by analyzing the basic monocentric city model, its assumptions, its logic, and its predictions.
  • Optional: you may find it useful and/or interesting to read Anas, Arnott, and Small (1999) and Brueckner (1987), both of which focus on urban spatial structure.

Reminder:  The material for the midterm will be all the readings and discussion questions (including this week’s) in addition to the lecture material up to last week’s topic on urban population size and growth.

Also, I recommend you start thinking about possible essay topics that interest you.

We have two more meetings before the midterm period – today and next week. We have two readings to discuss and we will try to finish topic 6 by next week. It seems unlikely we will get to topic 7, since topic 6 will take a bit of time to unpack. Today we will

• • Discuss chapter 6 in Green Cities. Discussion questions can be found here.
  • We cover the topic on Urban Population Size and Growth.
  • Begin the Urban Spatial Structure topic in which we will start by analyzing the basic monocentric city model, its assumptions, its logic, and its predictions.
  • Although it is not an assigned reading, if you would like to prepare for next couple of lectures, you may find it useful to read Anas, Arnott, and Small (1999) and Brueckner (1987), both of which focus on urban spatial structure.
  • For next week, please read the McCann article/chapter.  We will discuss the provided set of questions.
  • I do recommend you start thinking about possible essay topics that interest you. We will be starting the writing portion of the class after the midterm, but it is good to start thinking of ideas now. We will have a meeting in two weeks to introduce you to the platform, writing procedures, expectations and to discuss suggestions for topics.
  • The material for the midterm will be all the readings and discussion questions (including next week’s) in addition to the lecture material up to today’s topic on urban population size and growth.

The plan for today is:

• • Discuss chapters 4 and 5 of Green Cities by Matthew Kahn. The discussion questions can be found here.
  • Finish the topic on “Employment, Income Growth, and Business Promotion.”
  • For the remainder of the class today, we will begin the topic on Urban Population Size and Growth.
  • For next week, please read chapter 6 in Green Cities.
  • Please read the McCann article/chapter.  We will discuss the provided set of questions in two weeks.

Reference:

• • T. J. Bartik, Economic development strategies, Working Paper 95-33, W.E. Upjohn Institute, Kalamazoo, MI, 1995.

Today’s agenda will include the following:

• • First, we will discuss chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Matt Kahn’s book Green Cities. The discussion questions can be found here.
  • Following our discussion,  we will finish “Firm Location Decisions.”
  • For the remainder of the meeting, we will begin the topic of “Employment, Income Growth, and Business Promotion.”
  • For next week, please read chapters 4 and 5 of Green Cities by Matthew Kahn.

Ilana Preuss, “Small-Scale Manufacturing Can Maximize the Potential of America’s Small Cities,” Planetizen, 19 Aug 2021.

Steuteville, “Ten economic benefits of walkable places,” Public Square | A CNU Journal, 18 Aug 2021.

Laura Bliss, “Where Covid’s Car-Free Streets Boosted Business,” City Lab | Bloomberg, 11 May 2021.

Lin Taylor, “Want to create 5 million green jobs? Invest in public transport in cities,” World Economic Forum, 12 Apr 2021.

Alex Wittenberg, “The Biggest Problem With Opportunity Zones,” City Lab | Bloomberg, 26 Jun 2020.

Matthew Robare, “Why Amazon Won’t Save Your Struggling Town,” The American Conservative, 24 Nov 2017.

Quint Struder, “Small Businesses Can Save Your Community,” Strong Towns, 31 Jul 2018.

Quint Struder, “10 Things Small Businesses Need to Thrive,” Strong Towns, 12 Oct 2017.

Rachel Quednau, “Why Development-Oriented Transit is better than Transit-Oriented Development,” Strong Towns, 25 Apr 2018.

Daniel Herriges, “Street Vendors Are Vital Local Businesses. Cities Need to Do More to Support Them,” Strong Towns, 11 Dec 2020.

Joe Cortright, “Walkable places are growing in value almost everywhere,” Strong Towns, 22 Jan 2020.

Jordan Clark, “Is Your City Racing to the Bottom or the Top?” Strong Towns, 21 Feb 2019.

Daniel Herriges, “The Roots of a Resilient Small City Economy in Durango,” Strong Towns, 22 Apr 2021.

Today we will be meeting on campus again and will continue to do so going forward, unless otherwise announced.

• • In the first hour of class, we will discuss the Ed Glaeser paper, Are Cities Dying? The discussion questions can be found here.
  • After the discussion, we  will finish the Process of Urbanization and start Firm Location Decisions.
  • If you have not yet done so, please fill out this student details form.
  • Next week, we will discuss chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Matt Kahn’s book Green Cities. The discussion questions can be found here.
  • You can begin reading chapters 4 and 5,  of Green Cities by Matthew Kahn.  We will discuss those in two weeks.  Chapter 6 will be discussed in three weeks.

The plan for today

• • We will continue the introductory lecture material: Ethics, Goals, and Mainstream Axioms of Urban Economics.
  • The remaining time will be spent discussing the Process of Urbanization
  • If you have not yet done so, please fill out this student details form.
  • Next week we will discuss the Ed Glaeser paper, Are Cities Dying? The discussion questions can be found here.
  • In two weeks we will discuss chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Matt Kahn’s book Green Cities. The discussion questions can be found here.
  • In three weeks, you can read chapters 4 and 5 of Green Cities by Matthew Kahn.

Course Syllabus | Fall Schedule

• • Welcome to all students!
  • Please fill out this student details form.
  • Today I will present the course overview and syllabus.
  • We will also begin the introductory lecture material: Ethics, Goals, and Mainstream Axioms of Urban Economics.
• • ANNOUNCEMENT: next week we will meet online. Please send me an email (ajmatthew.chula@gmail.com) with your Chula email address so I can make sure your are part of the group on Microsoft Teams. You will be able to access Teams by going to office.com and logging in with your Chula email/login credentials. I will send you the code for our Teams group in response to your email.
  • Here are some of the preliminary notes for next week’s discussion on the Process of Urbanization
• • In two weeks  we will discuss the Ed Glaeser paper, Are Cities Dying? The discussion questions can be found here.
  • In three weeks we will discuss chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Matt Kahn’s book Green Cities. The discussion questions can be found here.