Suburbanization and transportation in European cities
We study whether highway and railroad improvements cause population suburbanization in Europe's cities. We construct a unique population and transportation dataset covering 579 cities from 29 European countries for the period 1961-2011. In order to make a causal inference, we rely on historical...
| Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2024 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repository: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:321984 |
| Online Access: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/321984 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1093/jeg/lbae029 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Cities Highways Railroads Suburbanization SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities |
| Summary: | We study whether highway and railroad improvements cause population suburbanization in Europe's cities. We construct a unique population and transportation dataset covering 579 cities from 29 European countries for the period 1961-2011. In order to make a causal inference, we rely on historical instruments. Our average results indicate that highways, but not railroads, were responsible for the suburbanization process: each additional highway ray decreased the share of the central city population by 5 percentage points, whereas new railroads had no impact. The heterogeneity analyses provide evidence of different patterns based on the time of the investment, the city's size and density, and its geographical location. |
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