The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning

"The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning provides an overview of the intersections of urban economics and planning, taking into consideration diverse aspects, ranging from economic segregation to zoning regulations. Overall, this book is a great resource for urban planning, public policy, and urban economics courses, meeting its aim of spurring cross-disciplinary discussions and at the same time spotlighting interesting research and scholarhip from prominent scholars and academics." -- Alainna C. Thomas, University of California, Davis "The large number of chapters results in coverage of a wide range of topics, all treated analytically and many augmented with empirical evidence.... Teachers and students of urban economics as well as urban planners will find it quite valuable. Highly recommended."--CHOICE "The editors of this handbook set out to bridge the disciplines of urban economics and city and regional planning and have succeeded wonderfully. They have put together a remarkably comprehensive set of original chapters written by leading scholars that address many of the critical issues facing contemporary urban areas. They also present and critically analyze a variety of tools for addressing those issues. This handbook is an essential reference volume and can be used in upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses in urban economics and planning."--William M. Rohe, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "This timely and important collection goes well beyond the traditional urban economics canon of externalities, bid-rent theory and public choice theory to uncover the economic principles and practices by which real urban places actually function. A section on the application of urban economics principles in Asia and developing countries is especially welcome. Were I developing an advanced undergraduate course or introductory graduate course on urban economics for a globalizing world, this is the text I'd use."--John D. Landis, Crossways Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania "The Oxford Handbook of Urban Economics and Planning brings together many of the leading thinkers in economics and planning who show how economics informs planning decisions and how planning informs economic thinking. The handbook covers the waterfront in contemporary planning concerns and promises to become a leading text for courses in planning and economics."--Arthur C. Nelson, Presidential Professor of City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah "As an urban economist within an interdisciplinary research center, I very much welcome this volume. There is much that economists and planners can learn from one another and this volume of carefully done essays takes us a far way down this mutually advantageous path. Moreover, the comprehensive and diverse contributions by leading researchers in their field bring readers up to speed on the current state of knowledge on almost every major topical area relevant to cities and regions."--Keith R. Ihlanfeldt, Devoe Moore Eminent Scholar and Professor of Economics, Florida State University "This ambitious collection of thirty-nine essays provides a feast for urban economists and regional planners. Topics range from urban sprawl to homelessness, from gentrification to disaster preparedness. Each essay is by a recognized authority, and each is designed to integrate the economic and planning approaches to a particular issue in urban development. The handbook makes absorbing reading and is a great achievement by the editors."--John M. Quigley, I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor, University of California, Berkeley "For most of my career, urban planners and urban economists have been two solitudes, considering the same issues, but not talking to each other very much. This book does a great service by creating a conversation between the two. Both planners and economists will find that they have a lot to learn from their fellow urbanists' contributions to this excellent volume."--William Strange, Professor of Real Estate and Urban Economics, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and Editor, Journal of Urban Economics "The authors don't aim to help planners solve nuts-and-bolts problems, rather help them-and their educators-understand ways of thinking about issues. The majority of the economists are concrete, empirical, and rely on fairly basic microeconomic theory. The extensive reviews of literature are a strong point, and reinforce connections to reality by being honest when empirical work doesn't offer confident conclusions. Readers already familiar with the topics will value those reviews. The author and subject indexes are excellent. The book is actually not best suited to practicing planners, rather to economists and planning academics who teach urban economics, planning, and public policy. Teachers will find new ways to handle various topics and guides to literature. As for planning students...many essays are useful for their theory, history, data, and logical arguments that will stimulate discussion. Overall, the book is diverse in style of exposition and topics."--Journal of Regional Science