《城市经济学》课程教学课件（讲稿）Why Are There Cities

Why Are There Cities?Canfei He, Professor in Economic GeographyCollege of Urban and Environmental SciencesPeking University-Lincoln Institute Center for UrbanDevelopment and Land Policy坚持级裤增强体质

Why Are There Cities? Canfei He, Professor in Economic Geography College of Urban and Environmental Sciences Peking University-Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy

OutlineWhat is Urban and Why Cities so Importantto Us?WhyCitiesExist?Trading CitiesFactory CitiesrWhySomeCitiesSo Big?Are ThereStill Citiesinthe Future?

Outline What is Urban and Why Cities so Important to Us? Why Cities Exist? Trading Cities Factory Cities Why Some Cities So Big? Are There Still Cities in the Future?

WhatisUrban To an urban economist, a geographical area isconsidered urban if it contains a large number ofpeople in a relatively small area.An urban area is defined as a place with (1) a veryhigh population density, compared to the surroundingarea, and (2) a total population greater than someminimum number Urban economists define an urban area in terms ofpopulation density because an urban economy isbased on freguent contactbetween different economicactivitiesand such contactis feasible only iffirms andhouseholds are packed into a relatively small area

What is Urban To an urban economist, a geographical area is considered urban if it contains a large number of people in a relatively small area. An urban area is defined as a place with (1) a very high population density, compared to the surrounding area, and (2) a total population greater than some minimum number Urban economists define an urban area in terms of population density because an urban economy is based on frequent contact between different economic activities, and such contact is feasible only if firms and households are packed into a relatively small area

High DensityJAN-

High Density

BigQuestion?Positive:cities facilitate innovation, productionand trade, increasing our standard of livingiproviding consumers with a wide variety ofgoodsand services Negative: the prices of land, labor and housingare higher in the cities; cities are subject to manyproblems, including congestion, pollution, crimeand povertyr Question: why do people locate in the cities withall their problems?

Big Question? Positive: cities facilitate innovation, production and trade, increasing our standard of living; providing consumers with a wide variety of goods and services. Negative: the prices of land, labor and housing are higher in the cities; cities are subject to many problems, including congestion, pollution, crime and poverty. Question: why do people locate in the cities with all their problems?

France中新网社区

France

中国文乌国际商贸就欢迎您文物州论坛运BEANUUNETYiwu, ZhejiangBeijing'sTrafficTrain inZhongguancun?MOSH.CN

Train in Zhongguancun? Beijing’s Traffic Yiwu, Zhejiang

Too Many?

Too Many?

Why Cities Important to Us?rCreation and Innovationin CitiesCitiesprovides many opportunitiesfor peopletointeract with people with common interests andthus promotes creative thought.That is, the city provides opportunities forknowledgespillovers（信息溢出），peopleshareideas and develop new products andproductionprocessesIn many cases, the personal interactionsthatspur creativity in cities are informal

Why Cities Important to Us? Creation and Innovation in Cities Cities provides many opportunities for people to interact with people with common interests and thus promotes creative thought. That is, the city provides opportunities for knowledge spillovers(信息溢出), people share ideas and develop new products and production processes In many cases, the personal interactions that spur creativity in cities are informal

SICONFirmsClusteringin SilliconValleyAarianHRS

Firms Clustering in Sillicon Valley