While people live in cities to work, learn, obtain higher wages, consume and enjoy amenities, they also usually face higher costs, such as higher housing expenses, higher crime, congestion, and pollution. Why do individuals (people and firms) pay to cluster together in cities? Why some cities grow while others decline? Why are cities locally administrated? How can public policy improve the quality of physical space? How does the physical city interact with social outcomes? This is an undergraduate course in urban economics, appropriate for students with no previous competence in microeconomics. The course teaches core topics in the field of urban economics as well as fundaments in microeconomic analysis. The theoretical framework for answering such questions is grounded on the ideas of spatial equilibria, natural advantages and agglomeration spillovers. This course illustrates the theories that explain the existence of cities and some of the benefits and challenges they present. In addition to providing an explanation for urban and regional dynamics, the course will present tools and methods for understanding urban public policies (i.e. rent control, land use regulation, transportation policy, etc.), urban investments and the relationship between urban morphology, techno-economic phenomena and innovation.

Skills in: - modelling and solving simple urban microeconomic problems; - understanding urban land and resources indicators; - critically reading economic documents that analyse territory and local administration issues; - understanding how to evaluate public and private investments in a urban framework; - writing short essays with local economics focus.

Basics of calculus

1. Microeconomic fundaments – Scarce resources allocation: market vs. planning; externalities, commons e public goods; internal and external scale economies. 2. Agglomeration economies – The determinants of agglomeration: chance, natural advantages and agglomeration spillovers; localization and urbanization economies; sharing (intermediate inputs, labour pools), matching and learning (knowledge spillovers). Metrics of agglomeration with a special focus on distance-based measures. 3. Urbanization, dimensional structure and urban growth – Knowledge spillovers, specialization and human capital. Inequalities at a small and large scale. 4. The urban governance – Functions and powers of local administrations; costs and revenues (fiscal, non-fiscal and transfer revenues); negative urban externalities; zoning. 5. Analysis of regional distribution of economic activities: the sources of competitive advantage. Specialization, diversification and market power. 6. Application of spatial analysis to the retail industry. Retail dynamics and agglomeration. The role of public decisions in the retail industry. The role of the retail industry in urban areas. Metrics for attractiveness of retail space.

REFERENCES Glaeser, E.L. “Urban public finance” NBER Working Paper No.18244 (2012) Henderson J. V. e H.G. Wang "Urbanization and city growth: the role of institutions" Regional Science and Urban Economics, 37 (2007)Scott A.J. e M. O'Sullivan A. Urban economics, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead (2012) Storper “The nature of cities. The scope and limits of urban theory” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39 (2015) Lecture notes

Modalità di esame: Elaborato scritto individuale; Prova scritta tramite PC con l'utilizzo della piattaforma di ateneo;

The exam is composed of two parts. A) a project (15 points) that will be developed by each student following specific instructions provided during the course and, B) a written exam (18 points). The written exam will be held online using the platform Exam. The exam will last in one hour. The written exam is composed of six questions, the expected answer is a (very) short essay for each question. The two parts of the exam aim at verifying the understanding of the arguments discussed during classes and the ability of the student to model and solve simple urban microeconomic problems.

Modalità di esame: Elaborato scritto individuale; Prova scritta tramite PC con l'utilizzo della piattaforma di ateneo;

The exam is composed of two parts. A) a project (15 points) that will be developed by each student following specific instructions provided during the course and, B) a written exam (18 points). The written exam will be held online using the platform Exam. The exam will last in one hour. The written exam is composed of six questions, the expected answer is a (very) short essay for each question. The two parts of the exam aim at verifying the understanding of the arguments discussed during classes and the ability of the student to model and solve simple urban microeconomic problems.