Urban Economics

Urban Economics
Economic models relating to spatial location of economic activities and development of cities. Application of economic theory to problems and policies associated with housing, urban transportation, congestion, local government finance, and other urban problems.
ECON
468
 Hours3.0 Credit, 3.0 Lecture, 0.0 Lab
 PrerequisitesECON 378 & ECON 380; Econ 388 or concurrent enrollment.
 TaughtContact Department
 ProgramsContaining ECON 468
Course Outcomes

Econ 468 students will be able to

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of transportation costs in determining land uses and land prices.Demonstrate a familiarity with the monocentric city model of land use and its use in understanding the impact of local land use and transportation policies.
  2. Apply the basic models of housing demand and the role of filtering in determining the stock of housing in a city.
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of the economic concepts of external costs and how these play a role in air pollution and highway congestion. Apply the concept of Pigouvian pricing as a solution to externality problems in the case of highway congestion.
  4. Discuss the role of time costs in consumers' choice of transportation mode, and why collection and distribution parts of urban trips are so important in determining the proper design of mass transit systems. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of economies of scale in efficient mass transit design.
  5. Use the basic economic model of "rational" crime to predict the impact of various anti-crime policies.