Gas Price Variations and Urban Sprawl: An Empirical Analysis of the Twelve Largest Canadian Metropolitan Areas

Abstract

We conduct a multivariate analysis of the potential impact of higher gas prices on urban sprawl in the twelve largest Canadian Metropolitan Areas for the period 1986-2006. Controlling for variables such as income and population, we show that higher gasoline prices have signifi cantly reduced urban sprawl. On average, a 1% increase in gas prices has caused a 0.32% increase in the population living in the inner city and a 0.60% decrease in low-density housing units. Our results also show that higher incomes have played a signifi cant role in increasing urban sprawl.

How land use patterns keep driving cheap: Geographic support for transportation taxes

“…The lower the transportation costs, the larger the radius of the city for a given population size, and thus the lower the density. Numerous studies support this result empirically, showing that higher gasoline taxes are associated with more compact and denser cities (McGibany, 2004; Molloy and Shan, 2013; Tanguay and Gingras, 2012). In turn, compactness and density are associated with less vehicle travel (Stevens, 2017).…”

Kapitel 1. Ziele, Herangehensweise und Kontext

“…Der Rückgang ist dabei tendenziell höher als bei einer reinen Preiserhöhung fossiler Energieträger ("tax salience"; Andersson, 2019;Antweiler & Gulati, 2016;Bernard & Kichian, 2019;Rivers & Schaufele, 2017. Neben einer Reduktion von Emissionen kann eine höhere Besteuerung von Treibstoffen auch zu einer Eindämmung der Zersiedelung beitragen, indem durch die höheren Transportkosten ein Anreiz gegen lange Wegstrecken gesetzt wird (OECD, 2018;Tanguay & Gingras, 2012). Damit haben CO 2 -Steuern indirekt auch einen Effekt auf die Landnutzung.…”

Human Settlements, Infrastructure, and Spatial Planning

“…Congestion charges and quota controls on vehicle registrations through an auctioning system also explain why Singapore's transit services are so heavily patronized and not un-related, why new land development is occurring around rail stations (Lam and Toan, 2006). where a 1 % increase in gas prices is associated with a 0.32 % increase in the population living in the inner city (Tanguay and Gingras, 2012); and cross-national datasets of 35 world cities (Glaeser et al, 2001;Glaeser and Kahn, 2004). However, another cross-national study using a larger dataset found no statistically significant link, which the authors attribute to noisiness in their (national-level) fuel price data (Angel et al, 2005).…”