City Form, Economics and Culture

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   This is a book about how the cities utilise space and how the resulting urban form provides different ways to deal with the tangle of public goods and externalities caused by agglomeration. We rely on well-known economic thinking plus a historical analysis to why cities exist and why they have evolved to be the way they are. We identify several defining factors: the geography and the technology (both defining what is possible to do), culture (which defines what the society’s goals are) and the necessary government regulation in the presence of public goods and externalities (determined both by culture and the desire to achieve positive economic outcomes). Regulation is the set of rules (not only planning codes) that underpins how markets are allowed to work in the city. Our method is also comparative as it explains the evolution of urban form in the US and how it stands in a sharp contrast with the evolution of urban form in Japan. An emphasis is put on the difference in regulations between both jurisdictions. We point out that, against the conventional wisdom, how American cities are constrained by rules that are much further from the “neoliberal” economic idea of free and competitive markets than the Japanese ones. We demonstrate how Japanese planning fosters competition and variety in the availability of goods and services. We also include an explanation of the origin of the differences in those regulations. We hypothesise how changing regulations could change the urban form to generate a greater variety of goods and to foster the access to those goods through a more equitable distribution of wealth. Critically, we point out that a desirably denser city must rely on public transport, and we also study how a less-dense city can be made to work with public transport. We conclude by claiming that changes in regulations are very unlikely to happen in the US, as it would require deep cultural changes to move from local to a more universal and less excluding public good provision.

3. Chapter 2. Why Cities Exist?

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We argue cities exist are the result of economics forces of agglomeration mediated by technological progress. That is, urban growth is fuelled by economically advantageous division of labour. Available technology is the most important constraint to city growth. However, other factors such as political stability, peace and the control of plagues are also important.

4. Chapter 3. Cities Are More Important Than Ever

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We show how, contrary to predications made in the twentieth century, the advances of transportation and information technology have not slowed down the forces of agglomeration. On the contrary, because of the increased human and physical capital accumulation plus the availability of desirable goods and opportunities, city growth has been accelerating. The world is going through a gradual but seemingly unstoppable process of urbanisation.

5. Chapter 4. Public Goods, Externalities and the City

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We explain the concept of public goods as understood in economics. That is, non-rivalrous and non-excludable goods as opposed to rivalrous and excludable private goods. We also explain the concept of externality as the effect on society as a whole. We show how markets cannot effectively provide neither public goods nor goods that involve externalities. We argue that cities, as a tangle of public goods and externalities, need effective governance and thus regulation.

6. Chapter 5. Governing for the Public Good: The Problem of City Governance and Planning

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We discuss the problem of city governance in general and with regards to urban planning in particular. Although cities exist because of their capacity to generate wealth, we do not believe that elected public officials should focus solely on the maximisation of economic growth. Indeed, cities are not only centres of production but also residence and consumption of private and public goods. Elected official should then strive to maximise a social welfare outcome rather than a merely monetary one. Any planning policy is a form of government intervention or regulation. Given the complexity of interconnected public goods and externalities posed by agglomeration, the need for regulation is unavoidable.

7. Chapter 6. Growth and Shape of the Pre-industrial City

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We analyse the growth and shape of the pre-industrial city as a result of the transportation technology available before the mechanisation of transport. Such city is constrained in size by walking speed. Because of the need of minimising transportation time or cost it has, necessarily, one centre and is fairly dense. The location of pre-industrial cities was also often determined by access to water-based transportation. We point out to New York and Venice as two examples of cities already preeminent before the mechanisation of transport. New York adapted to the new technology, but that is not the case for Venice.

8. Chapter 7. The Raise of the Rail-Based Mechanical City

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We study the effect of mechanised rail-based transport in the shape and growth pattern of the city during the early Industrial Revolution. Often the railway required substantial changes such as the demolition of parts or all the city walls. However, the most enduring effect on city shape came from the use of railways and tramways for transportation within the city and its suburbs. Although still having one centre, this became larger and denser. On the other hand, residential communities accessible by rail grew around the city proper, London’s Metro Land being a paradigmatic example. Nevertheless, people still needed to walk the last mile and goods moved by horse carts determining the location of commerce and industry not far or mixed with dense residential areas. Increasing congestion, a public bad and a by-product of strong economic growth, could not be overcome until the adoption of electric underground city railways.

9. Chapter 8. Motorisation and the City: America Leads the World

   Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

   Abstract

   We study the causes and effects of mass motorisation in the United States of America in terms of city shape and function. First, we build up the historical context that explains how the motor car was adopted by the masses in the 1920s. Then, we study the evolution of the planning regime necessary to accommodate the motor car into the fabric of American cities throughout the twentieth century. We argue that such planning regime, characterised by complex and micromanaged ordinances imposing strict zoning, low density and minimum parking requirements, is far from the American free-market ideals. It is, however, a way to manage some externalities caused by car dependency and fits with cultural norms regarding local provision and funding of public goods. We emphasise the problematic spatial aspect of car dependency as a result of American planning. We also analyse the role of racial segregation and exclusion in the strong political choice in favour of motorisation. Finally, we discuss several contemporary schools of thought and concepts arising from the American approach to planning.

10. Chapter 9. The Japanese Experience: The Rise of the Minimal Car Use Megalopolis

    Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

    Abstract

    We discuss the Japanese approach to planning in contrast to the American approach. We provide a historical explanation of the evolution of Japanese cities and their planning from the Tokugawa Era to the present day. Although very large, cities in Japan are not that dense. Like in America, the majority of the population live in single-family houses located in the suburbs. However, Japanese planning allows for mixed use by default and forbids on street parking nation-wide. As a result, railways are the main mode of transportation for longer distances within the city, while most errands can be solved by walking or cycling to either a corner shop or the larger commercial and service areas surrounding railway stations. Although with faults and problems of its own, we argue that the more laissez-faire, simple approach to planning in Japan is an example to follow that would result in a more efficient, less segregated and sustainable city form.

11. Chapter 10. Following America, Not Japan: Car Dependent Emerging Megacities

    Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

    Abstract

    We describe the problems caused by pollution and congestion externalities in megalopolises such as Jakarta, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur in comparison with the Japanese experience. We argue that planners in those developing economies decided to spend scarce resources in motorways and freeways rather than public transport, with dire consequences. We also find how some of those cities, many in mainland China, are now developing effective public transport networks with the potential to ameliorate their problems.

12. Chapter 11. Motorisation and De-motorisation in Europe

    Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

    Abstract

    We describe the European planning approach to motorisation focusing on the historical experience of Barcelona and Paris. That is, we study how relatively large and dense cities had to change to accommodate the motor car and the consequences of such choices in terms of pollution, land use and traffic congestion. We also discuss the European approaches to de-motorisation to find that, in general and in comparison to Japan, they are micromanaged, overregulated and geographically localised in and around the city centres.

13. Chapter 12. Conclusions

    Pablo Guillen, Urša Komac

    Abstract

    We discuss the applicability of the so-called market urbanism based in the Japanese experience to other jurisdictions. We argue that imposing strong limits to on-street parking would be highly beneficial and relatively straightforward in Continental Europe. We review contemporary opinions of commentators regarding some aspects of market urbanism, such as upzoning, mixed zoning and maximum parking rules to American cities. Most public goods in the US are provided and funded locally and, implicitly, planning rules are used to exclude outsiders from the enjoyment of such goods as education, health or leisure. We conclude that market urbanism could only thrive in the US as a result of a deep structural reform and cultural change.

14. Backmatter