The main objective of the course is to introduce students to the field of Urban and Regional Economics. The field of urban economics addresses a wide variety of questions and topics. At the most general level, the field introduces space into economic models and studies the location of economic activity. At its core, it is the study of economic activity in physical space and it focuses on the location choices of both producers and consumers. The course will cover standard concepts, techniques and models developed to study the spatial and locational aspects of economic activity and firm behavior. The course’s emphasis, however, will be on recent theoretical advances and empirical research particularly what has come to be known as the “new economic geography” (which in turn was the offspring of the “new economic growth theory”).

Regional and Urban economics typically addresses four sets of questions, and this course is organized around these four areas. The first set of questions focuses on the development of urban areas. Why do cities exist and why do some grow more rapidly? How can local governments encourage such growth? The second set of questions addresses patterns of development within metropolitan areas. Why do certain parts of metropolitan areas grow more rapidly than others? How do firms and households decide where to locate within given metropolitan areas? What determines the price of land, and how do these prices vary across space? The third set of questions concerns the spatial dimensions of urban problems. In this category urban poverty, housing, and innercity economic problems will be analyzed. Finally, in the last part of the class, we will briefly study the spatial aspects of local government policy and explore the interrelationships between city and suburban governments. The students will also be introduced to regional economic modeling.