McGraw-Hill/Irwin ©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Chapter 1 Introduction and Axioms of Urban Economics

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-2 Economics: profit-max and utility-max choices Geography: location and the spatial distribution of activity Urban economics Profit-max and Utility-max location choices Consequences of location choices Urban Economics: Economics meets geography

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-3 Why do cities exist? Why do competing firms cluster? Why do cities vary in size? What causes urban growth and decline? Who benefits from urban growth? Part 1: Market forces in the development of cities

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-4 Why does the price of land vary within cities? Why do people and firms build up instead of out? Why are there dozens of municipalities in the typical metro area? What are the consequences of race and income segregation? What are the effects of land-use controls and zoning? Part 2: Land use within cities

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-5 What is the marginal external cost of automobile travel? Why do so few people take mass transit? What would be required for light-rail system to pay for itself? Part 3: Urban transportation

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-6 Are criminals rational? What is the optimum level of crime? How effective is education in reducing crime? Why are crime rates higher in large cities? Why did crime rates drop in the 1990s? Part 4: Crime and public policy

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-7 Part 5: Housing and Public Policy Why is housing different from other goods? How do changes in one housing submarket (e.g., high-income housing) affect other submarkets (middle-income housing)? What is the bang per buck of public housing? What are the tradeoffs from housing allowances (cash)? How much tax revenue is lost because of the mortgage subsidy?

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-8 Part 6: Local Government What is the rationale for our fragmented system of local government? Does majority rule generate efficient choices? Who bears the cost of the property tax? How do local governments respond to intergovernmental grants?

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-9 Place with a relatively high population density Census definitions Urban area: minimum population = 2,500 Urban population: people living in urban areas Metropolitan area: at least 50k people Micropolitan area: 10k to 50k people Principal city: largest municipality in metro area What is a City?

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-10 Conditions for cities Agricultural surplus Urban production to exchange for food Transportation system for exchange Facts on cities: Figure 1-1, 1-2, 1-3; Tables 1-1, 1-2 Why Do Cities Exist?

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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-16 Locational equilibrium: No incentive to move Examples of prices behind locational equilibrium Rent on beach house > Rent on highway house Wage in Coolsville < Wage in Dullsville Land rent in center > Land rent on fringe Axiom 1: Prices Adjust to Achieve Locational Equilibrium

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-17 Self-reinforcing effect: leads to changes in same direction Auto row attracts comparison shoppers Cluster of artists attracts other artists Axiom 2: Self-Reinforcing Effects Generate Extreme Outcomes

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-18 Externality: cost or benefit of a transaction experienced by someone else External cost: burning gasoline affects breathers External benefit: painting a peeling house increases property values Axiom 3: Externalities Cause Inefficiency

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-19 Economies of scale: Average cost decreases as quantity increases Indivisible inputs: Required to produce one or a thousand units Factor specialization: Benefits from continuity and repetition Extent of scale economies varies across activities Axiom 4: Production is Subject to Economies of Scale

©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved1-20 Entry into market continues until economic profit is zero Economic cost includes explicit cost and opportunity cost of time and funds Firms earn just enough to stay in business, but not enough to attract entrants Axiom 5: Competition Generates Zero Economic Profit