Suburbanization and highways in Spain when the Romans and the Bourbons still shape its cities

We estimate the effects of highways on the suburbanization of Spanish cities. Based on Spain's historical roads - the almost 2000. years old Roman roads and the 1760 Bourbon roads -, we rely on an instrumental variables (IV) strategy because of the endogeneity of highway provision. Our results...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García López, Miquel-Àngel|||0000-0002-0515-2922, Holl, Adelheid|||0000-0003-4045-9468, Viladecans Marsal, Elisabet|||0000-0003-3722-2371
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:322064
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/322064
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.jue.2014.11.002
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Highways
Suburbanization
Transportation infrastructure
Descripción
Sumario:We estimate the effects of highways on the suburbanization of Spanish cities. Based on Spain's historical roads - the almost 2000. years old Roman roads and the 1760 Bourbon roads -, we rely on an instrumental variables (IV) strategy because of the endogeneity of highway provision. Our results show that, first, each highway emanating from central cities caused an 8-9% decline in central city population between 1960 and 2011. Second, each highway ray fostered a 20% population growth in the suburbs, in particular in suburban municipalities where ramps were located. Finally, we confirm the increasing role of highways on shaping urban form: each additional kilometer closer to the nearest highway ramp increased municipal density growth by an 8%.