Cars make cities less compact

Francis Ostermeijer, Hans Koster, Jos van Ommeren, Victor Nielsen, 08 March 2022

Cars have changed the way cities are organised. This column uses a sample of 123 cities in 57 countries to show that car ownership reduces the density of people and employment by allowing low-density expansion into the urban periphery. The findings have implications for cities in developing countries, where strong car ownership increases are expected in the near future. If these countries follow a similar path, their cities will be more spread out. This is likely to cause more traffic congestion, as lower-density areas tend to be more car-dependent. 

Household location in English cities

David Cuberes, Jennifer Roberts, Cristina Sechel, 02 June 2019

Richer households have typically chosen to live in the suburbs of big cities because of the lower prices and larger properties. This column reports evidence from England that multiple factors now influence household location, including such urban amenities as parks, monuments, restaurants, and public transport. Analysis of the eight largest cities outside London finds no systematic relationship between income and household distance to the city centre. Indeed, household heterogeneity is an important determinant of location: for example, on average households with heads who are migrants live 25% closer to the centre than non-migrants; and only households who are employed are influenced by the availability of public transport.

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