Economics 1800: Economics of Cities

Denise DiPasquale: DiPasquale@[Link]

Edward Glaeser: eglaeser@[Link]

Note: This syllabus and dates for the class may change over the course of the semester –
please refer to the course calendar on Canvas for most up-to-date timeline and materials.

Lecture: T/Th 10:30am–11:45am

Office Hours for Glaeser: Wednesday 10-11am, Thursday 1:30-2:30p.m. – Littauer 315A --
please email Maggie Brissenden (mbrissenden@[Link]) for
an appointment (we can find an alternate time).
Office Hours for DiPasquale: Tuesday 2-4 p.m. Littauer 317 or by
appointment (email: DiPasquale@[Link])

Teaching Fellows
 Sarah Armitage, saraharmitage@[Link]
 Karen Shen, karenshen@[Link]
Graders:
 Tianwang Liu (empirical psets) liut@[Link]
 Nicola Rosaia (theory psets) nicolarosaia@[Link]
Course Assistants
 Eugenio Donati, edonati@[Link]
 Nive Khandkar, niveditakhandkar@[Link]
 Will MacArthur, wmacarthur@[Link]
 Tom Spiers, tspiers@[Link]

Additional office hours with graders and course assistants to help with problem sets will be
offered in the weeks before problem sets are due (look out for announcements on Canvas).

Refer to the Canvas site for up-to-date section times and locations.
Sections will focus on helpful tools for the written assignments: reviewing and applying the
models for theory problem sets, and statistical software and methods for empirical problem sets.

Canvas Site: [Link]

Assignments and Grading:
There will be six problem sets: three theoretical, and three empirical, due via Canvas). Note that
expected problem set due dates are subject to change – actual due dates will be announced and
fixed when the problem sets are published.
Students are free to collaborate on writing code and problem solving, but the writeup for each
answer must be your own. Problem sets are not accepted late.
A five to seven page policy memo on a topic of your choosing is due on May 1. You must have
your topic approved by a lecturer or TF by March 29. This satisfies the economics writing
requirement.
Grades comprise:
 24% – empirical problem sets
 12% – theoretical problem sets
 10% – policy memo
 18% – midterm
 36% – final
For seniors writing a thesis and others with extenuating circumstances (needs approval from one
of the lecturers), you may choose not to take the midterm and we will weight the final more.

Lunch/Office Hours requirement

You must either make an appointment for office hours with either Professor DiPasquale or
Professor Glaeser at one point over the semester (email mbrissenden@[Link]) or come
to a lunch. Lunches will generally be 6-10 students at John Harvard’s Brewery and Ale House
(we will pay). You can sign up for lunches on canvas. Failure to come to a lunch or office hours
will cause a one grade reduction in your grade.

Reading assignments:
Please purchase: Glaeser, Triumph of the City.
All other readings will be available from the course website, on Hollis, or as a library reserve.

Refer to the Canvas site calendar for the most current reading and video links, assignments, and
announcements.
See links below for the readings and videos related to each lecture.

Course Schedule

Tue Jan 29, 2019 1: The Arc of US Cities (Glaeser)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Glaeser, Triumph of the City, Introduction and Chapters 1-2.
Required Videos:
• The Demand for Cities: [Link]
• The Supply of Urban Space: [Link]
• Equilibrium: Supply Meets Demand: [Link]

Thu Jan 31, 2019 2: Urban Form: Why do cities look the way they do? (DiPasquale)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapter 3.
Required Videos:
• The Skyscraper: [Link]
• Spatial Equilibrium: [Link]

Tue Feb 05, 2019 3: Transportation Technology, Density and Suburbanization (Glaeser)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, Chapter 5.
• Glaeser, Triumph of the City, Chapter 7
Required Videos:
• The Centrifugal 20th Century: [Link]
• Density within the City: [Link]
Optional Readings:
• Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, Chapter 2, 6.
Optional Videos:
• Hilary Ballon on Robert Moses: [Link]
• Liz Cohen on Ed Logue: [Link]
• Urbanization and Openness: [Link]
• Within-City Equilibrium: [Link]

Thu Feb 07, 2019 4: Factors that bring forth development: Interaction between structure and
location (DiPasquale)
Lecture Slides
Readings:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapter 1.

Tue Feb 12, 2019 5: The Imperial City and the Consumer City (Glaeser)

Lecture Slides
 Required Readings:
• Ades, Alberto and Edward Glaeser, 1994. "Trade and Circuses: Explaining
Urban Giants." Quarterly Journal of Economics:
[Link]
abstract/110/1/195/1893966?redirectedFrom=PDF
• Edward Glaeser. Triumph of the City. Chapter 5

Required Videos:
• Jason Ur on Mesopotamian Cities: [Link]
• Peter Bol on Xi'an and Chang'an: [Link]
• Rebecca Spang – History of the Restaurant, pts 1 and 2:
[Link] [Link]
• Imperial City Model: [Link]

Optional Reading:
• Edward L. Glaeser, Jed Kolko, and Albert Saiz, 2001. "Consumer City."
Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages
27-50: [Link]
• Mary Beard. 2015. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Chapter 8.
Optional Videos:
• Tony Travers on London: [Link]
• LA and Miami: [Link]
• St. James Street: [Link]
• Rome: [Link]

Thu Feb 14, 2019 6: Hedonics and housing (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapter 4
• Black, Sandra E, Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary
Education, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1999:
[Link]
abstract/114/2/577/1844232?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Fri Feb 15, 2019 PS 1 (Theory) due by 05:00PM

Tue Feb 19, 2019 7: Agglomeration and the Industrial City (Glaeser)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• William Cronon, 1992. Nature’s Metropolis. Chapter 5.
• Paul Krugma, 1991. Geography and Trade. Chapter 1.
Required Videos:
• Andrew Gordon on Japan's Industrialization:
[Link]
• Congestion Externalities: [Link]
 • Agglomeration and Instability: [Link]
mLpKSvc8&feature=[Link]

Optional Reading:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapter 5.

Optional Videos:
• Agglomeration Economies: [Link]
• Agglomeration and Housing Demand:
[Link]
• Manchester, Water and the Industrial Revolution:
[Link]
• Chains of Influence in Manchester's Industrial Revolution: [Link]
v_22vsjGY

Thu Feb 21, 2019 8: Neighborhoods, Amenities and Ethnic Agglomeration (DiPasquale)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Edin, Per-Anders ; Fredriksson, Peter ; Åslund, Olof, Ethnic enclaves and the
economic success of immigrants-evidence from a natural experiment,
Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb 2003, [Link](1), pp.329-357
• Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren and Lawrence Katz, “The Effects of Exposure
to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to
Opportunity Experiment,” American Economic Review 106(4): 855-902,
2016: [Link]
Required Video:
• Nathan Hendren on the Power of Place: [Link]
Optional Reading:
• Arthur O’Sullivan, Urban Economics, 9th Edition, Chapter 15.

Tues Feb 26, 2019 PS 2 (Empirical) due by 05:00PM

Tue Feb 26, 2019 9: Transportation and Urban Form (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Arthur O’Sullivan, Urban Economics 9th Edition, Chapter 18
• Glaeser. Triumph of the City. Chapters 7, 8
• Traffic congestion is taking a toll on Boston. Should Boston take a toll on
congestion? [Link]
traffic-congestion-pricing
Required Video:
• Tony Gomez-Ibañez on Congestion Pricing:
[Link]

Thu Feb 28, 2019 10: Urban Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Glaeser)
Lecture Slides
 Required Readings:
• Jacobs, Jane. The Economy of Cities. Chapter 2.
• Saxenian, Annalee. Regional Advantage. Chapters 1-3.
Required Videos:
• Tarun Khanna on Startups in India:
[Link]
• Impressionism and Cultural Exchange:
[Link]

Tue Mar 05, 2019 11: The Demons of Density - Water in History and the Developing World
(Glaeser)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Katherine Boo. 2012. Beyond the Beautiful Forevers. Chapter 1-2.
• Ashraf, Nava, Edward Glaeser, Abraham Holland, and Bryce Steinberg, 2017.
“Water, Health and Wealth,” Working Paper 23807,
[Link]
• Ashraf, Nava, Edward Glaeser, and Giacomo Ponzetto. “Incentives,
Infrastructure and Institutions,” 2016. Working Paper 21910,
[Link]
Required Videos:
• Don Goldmann on Venetian and Modern Incident Response:
[Link]
• Barry Bloom on Disease in the Developing World:
[Link]
Optional Videos:
• Don Goldmann on Ancient Plagues:
[Link]
• Sewers: [Link]

Fri Mar 08, 2019 PS 3 (Empirical) due by 5:00 PM

Thu Mar 07, 2019: 12: Cities and Climate Change

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Miami-Dade County and Sea Rise. HKS Case 2084.0. Prepare for discussion
including your opinions on the questions posed at the end.
• Miami Will Be Underwater Soon. Its Drinking Water Could Go First,
[Link]
problem

Tue Mar 12, 2019 13: New Technology, New Modes, Big Data and Big Cities (Glaeser)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
 • Edward Glaeser, Scott Kominers, Michael Luca and Nikhil Naik, 2018. “Big
Data in Big Cities,” Economic Inquiry.
• Arthur O’Sullivan, Urban Economics, 9th Edition, Chapter 19.
Required Videos:
• Jay Walder on Congestion and Transit in London:
[Link]
• Steven Poftak on the MBTA:
[Link]

Thu Mar 14, 2018 In-Class Midterm

Mar 16-Mar 24 Spring Recess

Tue Mar 26, 2019 14: Land Use Controls (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, pp. 72-90 and Chapter 14
• Postrel, Virginia, “A Tale of Two Townhouses,” The Atlantic (Nov. 2007).
[Link]
twotownhouses/306334/
• Quigley, John and Larry Rosenthal, “The Effects of Land Use Regulation on
the Price of Housing: What do We Know? What Can We Learn?” Cityscape
8(2005): 69–80: [Link]
Required Videos:
• Ingrid Ellen: Early NYC Regulations:
[Link]
[Link]
• Dan Doctoroff on Rezoning New York:
[Link]

Thu Mar 28, 2019 15: Crime and Riots (Glaeser)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Edward Glaeser. 1997. “Why is there more crime in cities?” NBER Working
Paper #5430. ([Link]
• Ze’ev Chafets. 1990. Devil’s Night and Other True Tales of Detroit. Chapter
1.
Required Videos:
• Crime and Rioting Model: [Link]
• Ken Auletta on NYC Crime
• Ed Davis on Boston Community Policing:
[Link]
• Ed Davis on CompStat: [Link]
• Tarek Masoud on the Arab Spring:
[Link]
 • Crime in Brazil: [Link]
[Link]
Optional Videos:
• A Brief History of Urban Riots:
[Link]
• Benjamin Carp: Urban Roots of the American Revolution:
[Link]
• Policing through History: [Link]
cQ0&feature=[Link]

Fri Mar 29, 2019 Paper Topic Submissions Due due by 11:59PM

Tue Apr 02, 2019 16: Housing Markets (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapters 8 and 9.
Required Video:
• Dynamics and Durable Housing: [Link]
GOWWA

Tue Apr 02, 2019 PS 4 (Theory) due by 5:00 PM

Thu Apr 04, 2019 17: Housing Bubbles (Glaeser) 12:00AM

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Glaeser, Edward. “A Nation of Gamblers: Real Estate Speculation in U.S.
History.” American Economic Review:
[Link]
• Glaeser, Edward and Charles G Nathanson. 2014. “Housing Bubbles,” Journal
of Financial Economics:
[Link]
• Robert Shiller. 2015. Irrational Exuberance, Third Edition. Chapter 3.

Optional Reading:
• Glaeser, Edward L., Joseph Gyourko, and Albert Saiz. 2008. "Housing supply
and housing bubbles." Journal of Urban Economics, 64(2): 198-217:
[Link]
Required Videos:
• Housing Market Bubbles: [Link]

Tue Apr 09, 2019 18: Slums (Glaeser)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Marx et al. (2013), "The Economics of Slums in the Developing World",
Journal of Economic Perspectives:
[Link]
 • Edward Glaeser. Triumph of the City. Chapter 3.

Tue Apr 11, 2019 19: Housing Affordability (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• John Quigley and Steven Raphael, “Is Housing Unaffordable? Why Isn’t It
More Affordable?,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 18, No. 1, Winter
2004, pp. 191-214: [Link]
• Denise DiPasquale and Michael Murray, “The Shifting Demand for Housing
by American Renters and its Impact on Household Budgets: 1940-2010,”
Journal of Regional Science, 57: 3–27, (2017):
[Link]
Optional Reading:
• O’Flaherty, Brendan, City Economics, Chapters 14 and 15
Required Videos:
• Henry Overman: Affordability in London:
[Link]
• Marc Vlessing: Pocket Living/Modular Housing:
[Link]

Fri Apr 12, 2019 PS 5 (Empirical) due by 5:00 PM

Tue Apr 16, 2019 20: Municipal Government (DiPasquale)

Lecture Slides
Required Reading:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton, Chapter 13.
Required Videos:
• Tony Travers: Governing London:
[Link]
• Diane Coyle/Howard Bernstein: Devolution in Manchester:
[Link]

Thu Apr 18, 2019 21: Segregation in the U.S. City (Glaeser) 12:00AM
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• David Cutler, Edward Glaeser and Jacob Vigdor. 1997. The rise and decline
of the American Ghetto ([Link]
• St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton. 2015. Black Metropolis, Chapter 6.
• Sugrue, Thomas J. 1996. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality
in Postwar Detroit. Chapter 2.

Optional Reading:
 • Walter Mondale: The Civil Rights Law We Ignored.
[Link]
[Link]
• US Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Housing
Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2012,” Executive
Summary, [Link]
514_HDS2012_execsumm.pdf

Required Videos:
• William Julius Wilson: The Great Migration:
[Link]
• William Julius Wilson: Inner-City Poverty:
[Link]
• Race and Tipping Models: [Link]

Optional Video:
• Mario Luis Small: Creating Community
• The Economics of Opportunity:
[Link]

Tue Apr 23, 2019 22: The Changing Roles of Office and Retail Space in Cities (DiPasquale)
Lecture Slides
Required Reading:
• DiPasquale and Wheaton , Chapters 6 and 11.

Tue Apr 23, 2019 PS 6 (Theory) due by 5:00 PM

Thu Apr 25, 2019 23: The Future of the City (Glaeser)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Glaeser, Triumph of the City, Chapter 9 and Conclusion.
• Benjamin Austin, Edward Glaeser and Lawrence Summers. 2018. Jobs for
the Heartland, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity:
[Link]
Videos:
• Robin Chase on Self-Driving Cars:
[Link]
• Jay Walder on Bike Sharing:
[Link]
• Free Speech in Hyde Park, London:
[Link]
• Paul Collier on Urbanizing Africa:
[Link]
• Utopian Cities: [Link]
Tue Apr 30, 2018 24: Urban Economic Development and Urban Policy Challenges (DiPasquale)
Lecture Slides
Required Readings:
• Timothy Bartik and Randall Eberts. The Roles of Tax Incentives and Other
Business Incentives in Local Economic Development. Dec 2011. The Oxford
Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning:
[Link]
1.0001/oxfordhb-9780195380620-e-29
• John J. Siegfried and Andrew Zimbalist, The Economics of Sports Facilities
and Their Communities, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 14, no. 3,
Summer 2000, pp. 95-114:
[Link]
Optional Reading:
• David Neumark, Jed Kolko. Do enterprise zones create jobs? Evidence from
California’s enterprise zone program. 18 January 2010. Journal of Urban
Economics:
[Link]

Fri May 3, 2019 Urban Research Paper due by 05:00PM