Dispersed Employment, Commuting, and Mixed Land-Use in Modern Cities

Abstract

This paper has two objectives. The first is to review a range of empirical evidence
that suggests this vision of urban form is largely incorrect. Over time, in most cities, real
estate rents and asset prices grow little more than inflation. In addition, recently released
data on the spatial distribution of jobs (by place of work) suggest that firms and
residences are remarkable well interspersed. The facts simply do not fit a “monocentric”
model – nor do they support its comparative statics with respect to growth. The second
objective is to develop a very simply model of urban spatial structure that does fit these
facts. The model makes many simplifying assumptions, and has few embellishments, but
it can generate city forms that are consistent with the data – and which do yield little or
no growth in real estate values as cities expand in population over the long run.