Program Overview

Urban Economics and Policy

Course Overview

The course is designed as an introductory course of urban economics, covering fundamental principles developed in economics to understand the functioning of an urban economy and the various aspects of urban life.

Course Description

This course begins with the definition of a city, and why cities form by introducing the economics of agglomeration, and how cities interact to form the urban system of the entire economy. It then analyzes the internal spatial structure of a city by developing a theory of commuting, housing demand, and housing production. The course also analyzes transportation and land/housing issues in more detail, focusing on the economics of traffic congestions, the rationale for congestion pricing, and the so-called fundamental law of highway congestion.

Course Objective

The course aims to introduce students to urban economics, focusing on fundamental principles essential for understanding urban economies and urban life. Topics include city formation, agglomeration economics, spatial structure, transportation, housing, land use, and public goods provision.

Course Requirement

• Participation (10%): Evaluation is mainly based on Q&As during lectures and group project presentations.
• Group Project (25%):
  • Class Presentation (12.5%): Inclusive of Q&As, a presentation should take at most 30 minutes. Each member of the group has to present.
  • Slides (12.5%): The presentation slides must be submitted to the instructor in both hard and soft copies two weeks after the presentation. The length of the slides can be at most 25 slides or 2000 words.
• Midterm (30%):
• Final Exam (35%):

Course Schedule

• Week 1-2: Introduction to “Cities”
• Week 3-4: Internal Spatial Structure of a City
• Week 5: Spatial Competition
• Week 6: Cities in Space: Central Place Theory
• Week 7: Housing
• Week 8: How Economists Think of Policies – Housing as an Example
• Week 9: Midterm Exam
• Week 10: Local Public Finance
• Week 11-14: Urban Transportation (Group Project Presentations are held in these four weeks)
• Week 15: Local Public Good
• Week 16: Final Exam

Course Details

• Credits: 3
• Type: Elective
• Department: DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS / GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS
• Instructor: Wen-Tai Hsu
• Language: English
• Student Quota: 50
• Specialization Program: No Specialization Program

References

• Textbook: Urban economics -- Brueckner, Jan (2011), Lectures on Urban Economics, MIT Press.