A Thematic History of Urban Economic Analysis

What is urban economics?1 I will refrain from torturing myself with this issue. Any definition will be too wide for some and too narrow for others. My definition will be simple, but appropriate for my interests and background: urban economics is scholarly writing that has specifically urban content and contains specifically economic analysis. Everyone will notice that my definition leaves room for judgment, which I will exercise freely. My concern, as the title indicates, is with themes and only incidentally with authors. I propose to ask: What subjects has urban economics been concerned with, and how have they changed through time? What has been the division of labor between theoretical and applied research? And most important, with what subjects has progress been made, and what significant problems are still outstanding? Where does one look for urban economics publications? One journal, the Journal of Urban Economics, whose twenty-fifth birthday 1999 was, has exactly that title. Two or three other journals have those or similar words in their titles. Several scholarly journals are devoted each to housing, transportation, and analysis of local government, and each such subject has a continuum of journals and magazines that blend into trade publications. Per-