The Economics of Urban Density

Gilles Duranton ^[1] ; Diego Puga ^[2]
1. [1] University of Pennsylvania
  
  University of Pennsylvania
  
  City of Philadelphia, Estados Unidos
2. [2] CEMFI
Localización: Documentos de Trabajo ( CEMFI ), Nº. 15 (CEMFI Working Paper No. 2015, June 2020), 2020
Idioma: inglés
Enlaces
- Texto completo (pdf)

Resumen
- Urban density boosts productivity and innovation, improves access to goods and services, reduces typical travel distances, encourages energy-efficient construction and transport, and facilitates sharing scarce amenities. However, density is also synonymous with crowding, makes living and moving in cities more costly, and concentrates exposure to pollution and disease. We explore the appropriate measurement of density and describe how it is both a cause and a consequence of the evolution of cities. We then discuss whether and how policy should target density and why the trade-off between its pros and cons is unhappily resolved by market and political forces