The making of the modern metropolis: evidence from London
Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm
Using newly constructed spatially disaggregated data for London from 1801 to 1921, we show that the invention of the steam railway led to the first large-scale separation of workplace and residence. We show that a class of quantitative urban models is remarkably successful in explaining this reorganization of economic activity. We structurally estimate one of the models in this class and find substantial agglomeration forces in both production and residence. In counterfactuals, we find that removing the whole railway network reduces the population and the value of land and buildings in London by up to 51.5% and 53.3% respectively, and decreases net commuting into the historical centre of London by more than 300,000 workers.
1 November 2020
The Quarterly Journal of Economics 135(4) , pp.2059-2133, 2020
https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/135/4/2059/5831735
This Journal article is published under the centre's Urban programme, Neighbourhoods programme.
This publication comes under the following theme: Housing