Paul Cheshire: Cities Are The Nearly Welfare Enhancing Human Project Design Inwards History

Hites Ahir interviews Paul Cheshire inward the March 2019 lawsuit of his Housing Watch Newsletter (interview here, total newsletter here). Here are a few of Cheshire's comments that caught my eye:

The Economic Gains from Cities

"There are many types of agglomeration economies inward consumption as well as nosotros actually know rattling footling virtually them nevertheless only my assessment is that cities are the most welfare enhancing human innovation inward history: they empowered the partition of labour, the innovation of money, merchandise as well as technical inventions similar the cycle – permit solitary government, the arts or culture."

Why Land is Regaining Importance inward Economic Analysis

"Classical economists devoted far to a greater extent than attempt to trying to empathise the returns to Earth than they did to labour or capital: it was both the most of import asset as well as the most of import constituent of production. When Adam Smith was writing alone virtually 12 per centum of Europe’s population lived inward cities as well as fifty-fifty inward the most industrialised country, Britain, the value of agricultural Earth was virtually 3 times that of annual GDP. But every bit the value of other assets increased, involvement inward Earth diminished as well as thence that past times virtually 1970 actually alone agricultural economists as well as a few urban economists were interested inward it: as well as they did non verbalize to each other. But past times 2010 residential property, mostly the Earth on which houses sat, was worth 3 times every bit much every bit British GDP. By the destination of 2013 houses accounted for 61 per centum of the UK’s internet worth: upwardly from 49 per centum twenty years ago. Land, straight off urban land, is valuable, as well as thence at that spot is renewed interest."

Urban Policy Often Misses the Problems of the Modern City

"Luckily cities are as well as thence resilient because urban policy is to a greater extent than ofttimes than non as well as thence bad! ... Policy has been dominated past times physical as well as pattern ways of thinking: dandy for edifice those fantastic innovations of the 19th Century – sewers or H2O supply. But non useful for facilitating urban growth as well as offsetting for the costs of metropolis size. We know cities continue on getting to a greater extent than productive the bigger they are only unopen to costs – the cost of space, congestion, for illustration – every bit good increment alongside metropolis size. So urban policy should starting fourth dimension for those costs. Instead it mainly increases them. Popular policies of densification as well as containment restrain the provide of space, increasing its cost every bit cities grow as well as thence nosotros forego socially valuable agglomeration economies. Another pop policy – tiptop restrictions – reduces gains from ‘vertical’ agglomeration economies."