Formation of Urban Spatial Structures: Markets versus Design
Household
The larger the area of land consumed per househols and per worker, the longer will be the commuting distance between firms and households.
Different transport tecnologies imply different commuting speeds and commuting costs and therefore make distance an imperfect proxy for labor market efficiency.
The Role of Markets and Design in Shaping Cities in Market Economies
In market economies, the combined effect of market forces and deliberate goverment design generates urban spatial structures.
Markets as Urban-Shape Creators
Markets create a blind mechanism that produces and constantly modifies urban shapes.
Markets shape cities through land prices.
Tall buildings = where land prices are high and low concentrations.
Short Buildings = Where land prices are low.
Markets and the Price of Urban Transport
Markets generate different land prices for each location in a city.
In most cities, the price of land is ussually the highest in the central part, because workers and consumers can travel to it in the shortest time and at least cost.
By acommodating more people and jobs in the area, it end up resulting in very high populatión and job densities.
The Ratio between land and Floor Space in Different Locations
The spatial expansion of cities requires land, but the final product of urbanization is floor space, not land.
Floor space = is the sum of the area built on land, whether public or private.
When price of land is high, developers can decrease the area of land that they use to produce area of floor space by building taller buildings.
The Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
Markets React to Exogenous Factors That Planners Cannot Anticipate
Changing exogenous forces are constantly modifying the market's equilibrium, and as a result urban shapes and land uses created by the market constantly evolce as well.
Lower rents, triggers a demand for rapid land use change.
Markets often occure well before urban planners could possibly be aware of the change in demand.
Global macroeconomic events, shifts in consumer demand.
Markets create new types of land use and make others obcolete.
Land recycling = positive for the long-term welfare of the population.
Almendra Teycalco García García - A01746426
The Role of Markets in Historical Preservation
Historical preservation for which urban managers might want to prevent land recycling caused by market forces.
Design Complements Markets in Shaping Cities
Markets are olny effective when land and building transactions are taking place at regular intervals.
Planners can influence consumption by using markets, not by imposing norms
Historical heritage buildings are fossil buldings produced by ancient market forces.
Preserve high-quality buildings rather than a specific type of land use.
Change in the use of the floor space.
Preservation.
Designed shapes
Urban land supply
Transforming land use
Setting the quality of land and floor space.
Planners should not just passively monitor markets
To be concerned by very low housing consumptio among lower-income households and should act to increase it.
The use of market mechanisms.
Cut supply bottlenecks.
Monitor demand through the evolution of land prices and rent.