<p>I recommend <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cities-agglomeration-and-spatial-equilibrium-9780199290444?cc=gb&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cities, Agglomeration and Spatial Equilibrium</a> by <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/glaeser/home" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Edward Glaeser</a>.</p>

<p>It introduces a monocentric city model (the Alonso-Muth-Mills model) which is discussed in <a href="https://nathanschiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Brueckner_Handbook_1987.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this excellent paper</a>.</p>

<p>This looks at how housing prices and densities vary across a city, and how people of differing incomes sort spatially. This is the spatial equilibrium within cities.</p>

<p>It then goes on to look at spatial equilibrium across cities (using the <a href="http://eml.berkeley.edu/~webfac/eichengreen/e196_fa11/mondragon_econ196_10-26-11.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rosen-Roback model</a>), agglomeration economics, urban distress and public policy.</p>

<p>It is mathematical, but does not include all steps in the derivations. My algebra and calculus is very good, but I have had trouble following all his steps. There are no exercises, but plenty of references to academic research that uses this theory.</p>

<p>Glaeser has studied urban economics at Harvard and wrote an excellent book <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0143120549" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Triumph of the City</a> for the layman.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-28T17:05:03.107Z
2017-08-28T17:05:03.107Z
StevenRJClarke1985
<p>Masahisa Fujita is considered as one of the most famous theorist in urban economics. He is one of the pioneers of the New Economic Geography. His book
<em><strong>Urban Economic Theory: Land Use and City Size, 1989, Cambridge</strong></em> is a master piece, laying down the theoretical foundations of urban economics. Also, you may read</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Fujita, Masahisa; Krugman, Paul; Venables, Anthony J. (1999). The
Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Fujita, Masahisa; Thisse, Jacques-François (2013). Economics of<br />
Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Regional Growth (2nd
ed.). Cambridge University Press.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Esteban Rossi-Hansberg at Chicago (previously at Princeton) is a rising star in urban economics. You may check out his 2016 Princeton <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180127072921/http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eerossi/WWS582a.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">syllabus</a> for Urban Economics, which is pretty useful. He does not recommend any textbook, and provides a more modern approach. You may also check out the syllabi on his <a href="https://rossihansberg.economics.uchicago.edu/teaching.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">current teaching site</a>, though I'm not sure if there is a good substitute for his Princeton Urban Econ course.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-08-28T14:41:31.437Z
2022-08-15T15:00:24.063Z
2022-08-15T15:00:24.063Z
emeryville
<p>I have a pretty straightforward question. What sort of textbooks or graduate readings are there for urban economics that you would personally suggest and why? Preferably I would like one that has practice exercises/proofs in them that I can use. I've seen a few books that look like graduate texts out there, but don't know much about what's in them, so I figured some people here might.</p>

<reference-request><urban-economics>
Textbook/Reading Suggestions for Urban Economics
Kitsune Cavalry
# Textbook/Reading Suggestions for Urban Economics

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-28)

I have a pretty straightforward question. What sort of textbooks or graduate readings are there for urban economics that you would personally suggest and why? Preferably I would like one that has practice exercises/proofs in them that I can use. I've seen a few books that look like graduate texts out there, but don't know much about what's in them, so I figured some people here might.

**Tags:** reference-request, urban-economics


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-08-28. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Masahisa Fujita is considered as one of the most famous theorist in urban economics. He is one of the pioneers of the New Economic Geography. His book
***Urban Economic Theory: Land Use and City Size, 1989, Cambridge*** is a master piece, laying down the theoretical foundations of urban economics. Also, you may read

* Fujita, Masahisa; Krugman, Paul; Venables, Anthony J. (1999). The
  Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade. Cambridge,
  Massachusetts: MIT Press.
* Fujita, Masahisa; Thisse, Jacques-François (2013). Economics of  
  Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Regional Growth (2nd
  ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Esteban Rossi-Hansberg at Chicago (previously at Princeton) is a rising star in urban economics. You may check out his 2016 Princeton [syllabus](https://web.archive.org/web/20180127072921/http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eerossi/WWS582a.pdf) for Urban Economics, which is pretty useful. He does not recommend any textbook, and provides a more modern approach. You may also check out the syllabi on his [current teaching site](https://rossihansberg.economics.uchicago.edu/teaching.html), though I'm not sure if there is a good substitute for his Princeton Urban Econ course.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-08-28. Score: 4

I recommend [Cities, Agglomeration and Spatial Equilibrium](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cities-agglomeration-and-spatial-equilibrium-9780199290444?cc=gb&lang=en&) by [Edward Glaeser](https://scholar.harvard.edu/glaeser/home).

It introduces a monocentric city model (the Alonso-Muth-Mills model) which is discussed in [this excellent paper](https://nathanschiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Brueckner_Handbook_1987.pdf).

This looks at how housing prices and densities vary across a city, and how people of differing incomes sort spatially. This is the spatial equilibrium within cities.

It then goes on to look at spatial equilibrium across cities (using the [Rosen-Roback model](http://eml.berkeley.edu/~webfac/eichengreen/e196_fa11/mondragon_econ196_10-26-11.pdf)), agglomeration economics, urban distress and public policy.

It is mathematical, but does not include all steps in the derivations. My algebra and calculus is very good, but I have had trouble following all his steps. There are no exercises, but plenty of references to academic research that uses this theory.

Glaeser has studied urban economics at Harvard and wrote an excellent book [The Triumph of the City](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0143120549) for the layman.


---

