Urban Diversity and Economic Growth

Abstract

This paper considers the heterogeneity and diversity of cities as sources of economic growth. It links modern notions of economic growth to the distinguishing characteristics of cities and to the external effects on consumption and production produced by the internal diversity of urban areas. The paper reviews the role of traditional scale economies as well as the importance of diversity in economizing on shared inputs and transactions costs, and efficiencies arising from the operation of the law of large numbers in metropolitan areas. The authors also review recent empirical evidence on the importance of these elements of heterogeneity in conditioning economic growth.

Scale Economies and the Geographic Concentration of Industry

“…One goal of the review has been to assess whether the literature has 27 The current is the fourth such wave this century according to Quigley (1998). addressed estimation problems which confound the identification of external effects.…”

“…An urban hierarchy arises in which cities specialize in different industries and the size of cities is determined by the size of their respective export activities. Costs associated with congestion, 1 For recent surveys of theoretical research on agglomeration in spatial economic models, see Fujita and Thisse (1996), Krugman (1997), Quigley (1998), andFujita, Krugman, andVenables (1999). which I describe in more detail below, act as a centrifugal force which prevents economic activity from becoming agglomerated in a single location or region.…”

Un modelo de simulación computacional integrado a SIG para explorar la dinámica de crecimiento de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México (1998-2008) / A Computer Simulation Model Integrated into SIG to Explore the Dynamics of Growth of the Metropoli

“…5 La concentración urbana genera por sí misma ventajas como la proximidad espacial, el ahorro en el costo de transporte, mercados más eficientes y rendimientos crecientes que influyen positivamente en la productividad y en el crecimiento y el desarrollo económicos (Quigley, 1998;Henderson, 2003). Como veremos más adelante en la cuarta sección, en este estudio emprendimos una primera aproximación al respecto al proponer un modelo de interacción espacial (que incluye además subcentros económicos) para explicar el crecimiento local de los municipios de la zmcm.…”

Population of American Cities: 1950-2009

“…Then there was the period of deglomeration and crisis, during which numerous cities declined. These tendencies were changed some 15-20 years ago with the resurgence impulse (Quigley, 1998;Florida, 2004;Storper, Manville, 2006). In 1980s there were identified three groups of cities in the USA.…”