Urbanization and its Discontents

Edward Glaeser

No 26839, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: American cities have experienced a remarkable renaissance over the past 40 years, but in recent years, cities have experienced considerable discontent. Anger about high housing prices and gentrification has led to protests. The urban wage premium appears to have disappeared for less skilled workers. The cities of the developing world are growing particularly rapidly, but in those places, the downsides of density are acute. In this essay, I review the causes of urban discontent and present a unified explanation for this unhappiness. Urban resurgence represents private sector success, and the public sector typically only catches up to urban change with a considerable lag. Moreover, as urban machines have been replaced by governments that are more accountable to empowered residents, urban governments do more to protect insiders and less to enable growth. The power of insiders can be seen in the regulatory limits on new construction and new businesses, the slow pace of school reform and the unwillingness to embrace congestion pricing.

JEL-codes: H70 R10 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-lma and nep-ure
Note: PE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Published as Edward L. Glaeser, 2020. "Urbanization and Its Discontents," Eastern Economic Journal, vol 46(2), pages 191-218.

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