Compact cities and economic productivity in Mexico. (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Monkkonen, Paavo; Montejano, Jorge; Guerra, Erick; Caudillo, Camilo
• Is Part Of: Urban studies. Volume 57:Number 10(2020:Aug.)
• Page Start: 2080
• Page End: 2097
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: agglomeration -- economic processes -- land use -- productivity -- urban spatial structures -- urbanisation; 集聚 -- 经济过程 -- 土地利用 -- 生产率 -- 城市空间结构 -- 城市化; Cities and towns -- Periodicals; City planning -- Periodicals; 307.1216
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098019869827
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0042-0980

Abstract

This paper examines the contingent nature of agglomeration economies. Existing empirical evidence that compact cities are more productive is mostly from countries and regions with highly productive service sectors, such as the USA or Europe. We hypothesise that this relationship will differ in countries where land-intensive manufacturing activities are more productive than services. In this paper, we test this hypothesis using data from the 100 largest cities in Mexico in 1990, 2000 and 2010. Under a number of specifications, we find that the most common measures of urban compactness are, in fact, negatively associated with economic productivity. This holds even when instrumenting urban spatial structure with the underlying geology of urban areas. The findings suggest a need for greater attention to national economic structure in the study of agglomeration economies, and that policy agendas focused on compact urbanisation take account of the needs of the manufacturing sector.