Jobs and Land Use within Cities

Over the last century, the urban spatial
structure of cities has transformed dramatically from the
traditional monocentric configuration to varying forms of
decentralized organization. This paper reviews the theory
and empirical evidence to understand the urban morphology of
jobs and land use within a city. This survey highlights four
broad insights: (i) The evolution of monocentric to
polycentric centers has been accompanied by structural
changes in the city. (ii) The internal geography of a city
is an outcome of the trade-off between the pull from
agglomeration economies and the push from congestion. (iii)
The presence of externalities implies that the equilibrium
spatial organization achieved by profit-maximizing firms may
not necessarily be optimal. This justifies the role of
public policy in addressing the associated market failures.
(iv) The productive edge and competitiveness of a city can
be enhanced by introducing policies that increase the
overall connectivity to take advantage of economic
opportunities across the metropolitan area. The survey also
puts together a wide range of policy instruments that are
useful in closing the gap between equilibrium urban spatial
structure and the optimal outcome.