URBAN ECONOMICS I

The Economic Development of Cities

The course will give students the knowledge basis (historical, methodological, theoretical and empirical bases) to formulate explanatory models of cities' development trajectories. The approach is interdiscplinary. Systems theory will be the methodological perpective of the approach followe. Quantitative analyses will be conducted this year on Italian metropolitan cities and areas.

Level: post-graduate; credits: 6; Hours of teaching: 44; semester: 2°; language: Italian

LABS: 1. Lab of quantitative analysis; 2. Lab of visual economics

Lecturing period: February 21- March, 31, 2011

Lectures Time: Monday 14.30-16.30; Tuesday 14.30-16.30; Wednesday 14.30-16.30; Thursday 10.30-12.30

Room: T7

Tutorial: Wednesday 16.30-18.30; Thursday 14.30-18.30

Course outline

Moving from the methodological premises of systems theory, the course will focus on two (key) questions in urban economics: (a) the relationships between the 'structures' and the 'performances' of cities; (b) the variety in space and time of cities' structures (and their evolution).

The first part of the course will be devoted to a discussion of the meaning that the concepts of 'structure' and 'performances' may be given to in the conceptual framework of urban economics. After having laid down a model of the (circular) relationship between 'structure' and 'performances' to be used to explain cities' performances, the course will focus on cities as 'progressive systems', that is, systems the structure of which evolves over time, as attempts at systems maintenance, as a consequence of endogenous shocks (novelties) and exogenous shocks (environment changes).

The conceptual and methodological framework will be developed with a case-study approach, A number of lectures will be devoted to introduce students to basic concepts of systems theory – by making use of the STELLA Software

Laboratory of quantitative analyses (Stat-Lab)

Using the statistical software STATA, sutdents will learn to analyse - analytically and graphically - various urban phenomena. Students will learn how to use STATA to produce graphs (bar graphs, histogramms, scatter plots, box plots, etc.), correlation indexes, hypotheses tests, linear regression, etc. The Lab will have a strictly applied orientation.

Laboratory of visual economics

The visual representation of the physical and social world has played an important role in scientific research. The new technologies of data processing have openend up new possibilities for the visual reperesentation of social and economic phenomena. In the Lab examples of how photography has been used to describe and intepret urban phenomena will be discussed. Students will learn how to 'extract' economic information (data) from photos. The epistemological basis of the visual reperesentation of the soical world will be also discussed.

Calendar

1. Cities as 'economic systems'

2. The relational dimension of city

3. The physical dimension of city

4. The political-administrative dimension of city

5. The identification of city: legal city versus city de facto

6. Structure and performances

7. Generation and distribution of income

8. Delivering and using public goods

9. Production and distribution of collective goods

10. Generation and appropriation of externalities

11. Cities as' progressive systems'

12. The roots of change in the structure of cities

13. Adaptation mechanisms

14. Surplus and capital accumulation in cities

15. Demographic changes in cities

16. The evolution of urban institutions

17. Urban economic dynamics (I)

18. Urban economic dynamics (II)

19. Structurall evolution and economic development: a model (I)

20. Structurall evolution and economic development: a model (II) (I)

21. Trajectories of urban development: empirical explorations (I)

22. Trajectories of urban development: empirical explorations (II)

Readings

A) Calafati A.G., Lineamenti di economia urbana, materiale didattico (solo per frequentanti).

B) Calafati A.G., Economie in cerca di città, Donzelli, Roma, 2009.

C) Calafati A.G. e Mazzoni F., Città in nuce nelle Marche. Coalescenza territoriale e sviluppo economico, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2008.

D) Zimmermann C., L'era delle metropoli, il Mulino, Bologna, 2004.

Assignments

To pass the exam students have to:

a) write an essay of about 2500-4000 words on one of the themes indicated in the following list (see the list); students are expected to write the essay in English; the essay should be sent to the lecturer by e-mail (a.g.calafati@univpm.it) at least a week in advance of the date of the oral examination; in writing the essay please refer to the following 'Guidelines'.

b) sustain an oral examination: consisting in the discussion of the essay; the discussion can be held either in English or in Italian.