Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies:
01 Apr 2000-International Regional Science Review (Sage PublicationsSage CA: Thousand Oaks, CA)-Vol. 23, Iss: 2, pp 160-171
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that urban spatial expansion results mainly from three powerful forces: a growing population, rising incomes, and falling commuting costs, and propose two types of development taxes and congestion tolls levied on commuters.
Abstract: This article argues that urban spatial expansion results mainly from three powerful forces: a growing population, rising incomes, and falling commuting costs. Urban growth occurring purely in response to these fundamental forces cannot be faulted as socially undesirable, but three market failures may distort their operation, upsetting the allocation of land between agricultural and urban uses and justifying criticism of urban sprawl. These are the failure to account for the benefits of open space, excessive commuting because of a failure to account for the social costs of congestion, and failure to make new development pay for the infrastructure costs it generates. Precise remedies for these market failures are two types of development taxes and congestion tolls levied on commuters. Each of these remedies leads to a reduction in the spatial size of the city.
Citations
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TL;DR: This article examined the similarities and differences in urban form and growth that have occurred across 25 mid-sized cities from different geographical settings and levels of economic development, and revealed four city types: low-growth cities with modest rates of infilling; high-growth city types with rapid, fragmented development; expansive growth cities with extensive dispersion at low population densities.
Abstract: Despite growing recognition of the important role of cities in economic, political and environmental systems across the world, comparative, global-scale research on cities is severely limited. This paper examines the similarities and differences in urban form and growth that have occurred across 25 mid-sized cities from different geographical settings and levels of economic development. The results reveal four city types: low-growth cities with modest rates of infilling; high-growth cities with rapid, fragmented development; expansive-growth cities with extensive dispersion at low population densities; and frantic-growth cities with extraordinary land conversion rates at high population densities. Although all 25 cities are expanding, the results suggest that cities outside the US do not exhibit the dispersed spatial forms characteristic of American urban sprawl.
771 citations
Cites background from "Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedie..."
...The most simple (and possibly most vague) defi nition refers to sprawl as the excessive spatial growth of cities (Brueckner, 2001)....
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TL;DR: This article reviewed the literature that describes the micro-level economic and social consequences of homeownership and found that much of the past 30-year's literature on consequences of homeowning is deficient from a theoretical or econometric perspective.
627 citations
Abstract: Flood damage modelling has traditionally been limited to the local, regional or national scale. Recent flood events, population growth and climate change concerns have increased the need for global methods with both spatial and temporal dynamics. This paper presents a first estimation of global economic exposure to both river and coastal flooding for the period 1970–2050, using two different methods for damage assessment. One method is based on population and the second is based on land-use within areas subject to 1/100 year flood events. On the basis of population density and GDP per capita, we estimate a total global exposure to river and coastal flooding of 46 trillion USD in 2010. By 2050, these numbers are projected to increase to 158 trillion USD. Using a land-use based assessment, we estimated a total flood exposure of 27 trillion USD in 2010. For 2050 we simulate a total exposure of 80 trillion USD. The largest absolute exposure changes between 1970 and 2050 are simulated in North America and Asia. In relative terms we project the largest increases in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The models also show systematically larger growth in the population living within hazard zones compared to total population growth. While the methods unveil similar overall trends in flood exposure, there are significant differences in the estimates and geographical distribution. These differences result from inherent model characteristics and the varying relationship between population density and the total urban area in the regions of analysis. We propose further research on the modelling of inundation characteristics and flood protection standards, which can complement the methodologies presented in this paper to enable the development of a global flood risk framework.
605 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the nature and magnitude of externalities associated with automobile use, including local and global pollution, oil dependence, traffic congestion and traffic accidents, and discuss current federal policies affecting these externalities, including fuel taxes, fuel-economy and emissions standards, and alternative fuel policies.
Abstract: This paper discusses the nature, and magnitude, of externalities associated with automobile use, including local and global pollution, oil dependence, traffic congestion and traffic accidents. It then discusses current federal policies affecting these externalities, including fuel taxes, fuel-economy and emissions standards, and alternative fuel policies, summarizing, insofar as possible, the welfare effects of those policies. Finally, we discuss emerging pricing policies, including congestion tolls, and insurance reform, and we summarize what appears to be the appropriate combination of policies to address automobile externalities.
545 citations
Cites background from "Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedie..."
...Many authors have argued that the low cost of motor vehicle use encourages urban sprawl (e.g., Brueckner 2000, Glaeser and Kahn 2003, Glaeser and Kohlhase 2003); in turn this may cause additional traffic congestion as well as lost natural habitat and aesthetic benefits from open space....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors utilized satellite images of 77 metropolitan areas in Asia, US, Europe, Latin America and Australia to calculate seven spatial metrics that capture five distinct dimensions of urban form.
528 citations
References
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TL;DR: The authors show that the Musgrave-Samuelson analysis, which is valid for federal expenditures, need not apply to local expenditures, and restate the assumptions made by Musgrave and Samuelson and the central problems with which they deal.
Abstract: NE of the most important recent developments in the area of "applied economic theory" has been the work of Musgrave and Samuelson in public finance theory.2 The two writers agree on what is probably the major point under investigation, namely, that no "market type" solution exists to determine the level of expenditures on public goods. Seemingly, we are faced with the problem of having a rather large portion of our national income allocated in a "non-optimal" way when compared with the private sector. This discussion will show that the Musgrave-Samuelson analysis, which is valid for federal expenditures, need not apply to local expenditures. The plan of the discussion is first to restate the assumptions made by Musgrave and Samuelson and the central problems with which they deal. After looking at a key difference between the federal versus local cases, I shall present a simple model. This model yields a solution for the level of expenditures for local public goods which reflects the preferences of the population more adequately than they can be reflected at the national level. The assumptions of the model will then be relaxed to see what implications are involved. Finally, policy considerations will be discussed.
12,105 citations
"Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedie..." refers background in this paper
...Tiebout (1956) provided the seminal analysis of the fiscal incentives leading to such homogeneous commu -...
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...Tiebout (1956) provided the seminal analysis of the fiscal incentives leading to such homogeneous communities, and Wildasin (1986) provides an overview of more recent studies....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze causes and consequences of metropolitan suburbanization with a focus on trends in the United States and compare the effect of employment transportation and travel considerations with the impact of urban problems such as taxes public school quality crime and environmental quality.
Abstract: The authors analyze causes and consequences of metropolitan suburbanization with a focus on trends in the United States. The effect of employment transportation and travel considerations is compared with the impact of urban problems such as taxes public school quality crime and environmental quality. (ANNOTATION)
783 citations
"Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedie..." refers background in this paper
...Economists believe that three underlying forces—population growth, rising household incomes, and transportation improvements—are responsible for this spatial growth (see Mieszkowski and Mills 1993)....
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...Economists believe that three underlying forces—population growth, rising household incomes, and transportation improvements—are responsible for this spatial growth (see Mieszkowski and Mills 1993 )....
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Book•
03 May 2002
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present mutually consistent models of demand, cost, pricing, investment criteria, and industrial organization; these can be combined to describe equilibria of the entire urban transportation system under various policies.
Abstract: A comprehensive review of the economics of urban transportation. This book presents mutually consistent models of demand, cost, pricing, investment criteria, and industrial organization; these can be combined to describe equilibria of the entire urban transportation system under various policies. Models are described with empirical content and international data are used to demonstrate how the models can be applied. The importance of highway transportation is reflected in the attention paid to models of congestion and highway investment. The author goes beyond standard congestion models by incorporating people's choice for timing their trips. This book is intended as an advanced textbook and reference volume for graduate students and researchers in transportation, urban economics, and related fields.
507 citations
TL;DR: This paper showed empirically that urban size is related to the given variables (population, income, agricultural rent, and commuting cost) in the manner predicted by the Muth-Mills model.
Abstract: Many commentators believe that the phenomenon of urban sprawl, which is characterized by vigorous spatial expansion of urban areas, is a symptom of an economic system gone awry. By transforming pastoral farmland into often-unattractive suburbs, sprawl is thought to disrupt a natural balance between urban and non-urban land uses, leading to a deplorable degradation of the landscape.' This sentiment is often translated into policy through zoning restrictions designed to inhibit the conversion of land from agricultural to urban use (see Bryant and Conklin (1975)). The economist's view of urban expansion stands in stark contrast to this emotionally-charged indictment of sprawl. Economists believe that urban spatial size is determined by an orderly market process which correctly allocates land between urban and agricultural uses. The model underlying this view, which was originally developed by Muth (1969) and Mills (1972) and more completely analyzed by Wheaton (1974), suggests that urban spatial size is determined in a straightforward way by a number of exogenous variables. By showing empirically that urban size is related to the given variables (population, income, agricultural rent, and commuting cost) in the manner predicted by the model, the present paper achieves two goals. First, the empirical results suggest that the economist's view of urban sprawl is justified: rather than being determined by a process which indiscriminately consumes agricultural land, urban sizes are the result of an orderly market equilibrium where competing claims to the land are appropriately balanced.2 Second, by confirming the urban size predictions of the underlying model, the empirical results constitute yet another piece of evidence validating the basic framework of urban economic analysis.3 The plan of the paper is as follows. Section II sketches the structure of the Muth-Mills model and presents the main comparative static results relevant to urban sprawl. With the model's predictions in focus, section III discusses the sample and the data, and section IV presents the empirical results. Section V offers conclusions.
337 citations
"Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedie..." refers background in this paper
...Buttressing this claim, evidence has shown that in regions where agricultural land is productive and its value high, cities are more spatially compact than in regions where agricultural land is unproductive and therefore cheap (Brueckner and Fansler 1983)....
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Book•
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01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the effect of local government policies on migration, the optimal size of cities, tax and expenditure capitalization, the economics of intergovernmental transfers, tax exporting and tax competition.
Abstract: Considers such issues as the effect of local government policies on migration, the optimal size of cities, tax and expenditure capitalization, the economics of intergovernmental transfers, tax exporting and tax competition.
307 citations