Urban and regional economics lecture notes often focus on the "where" of economic activity, exploring why cities exist, how land is used, and the impact of public policy on spatial distribution ResearchGate Key Topics in Lecture Notes The Existence of Cities
The Marshallian Triple: This productivity is driven by three "micro-foundations": labor matching, input sharing, and knowledge spillovers.
Introduction and Key Concepts
Did you find this guide useful? Check institutional repositories for the most recent editions (2023–2025), as urban economics is rapidly incorporating big data and remote work dynamics.
Moving beyond a single city, regional economics looks at why entire areas (like Silicon Valley or the Rust Belt) succeed or decline. Location Theory : Models like the Von Thünen model Weber’s model urban and regional economics lecture notes pdf
Theories and Models:
| Week | Topic | Key Models | |------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------| | 1 | Why cities exist | Agglomeration, scale economies | | 2 | Land rent & density | Alonso-Muth-Mills model | | 3 | Neighborhood choice | Tiebout sorting, Rosen-Roback | | 4 | Urban transportation | Downs-Thomson paradox | | 5 | Housing policy | Rent control, vouchers | | 6 | Local public finance | Property tax incidence | | 7 | Regional specialization | Comparative advantage | | 8 | Central place theory | Christaller, Losch | | 9 | Regional growth | Convergence, Krugman (1991) | | 10 | Input-output & CGE models | Leontief inverse | | 11 | Spatial econometrics | Moran’s I, spatial lag | | 12 | Policy: EU cohesion / China HSR | Difference-in-differences | Urban and regional economics lecture notes often focus
No set of lecture notes can fully capture the empirical richness of urban and regional economics. Key limitations include: