Economics 341 – E01
Urban and Regional Economics

Professor Bryan Snyder
Bentley University Spring 2011

General Course Information Days, Time, Location and Dates

Monday Evenings Jan. 24^th => May 2^nd

6:30pm => 8:50pm

Room: SMI 307

Professor: Bryan Snyder

Office: Rm G274 Adamian

Office Hours: Thursdays: 2:15 => 5:00pm

Office Phone: #781-891-2446

E-mail address: bsnyder@bentley.edu

Website: http://blackboard.bentley.edu/

Course Overview

This course analyzes the very real economic forces that determine where and how cities develop and grow and the subsequent issues that arise from their existence. The practical location decisions of firms is explored at length in this class as well as how land and housing prices are determined in a regional economy. Of immediate concern will be a number of pressing issues for the City of Boston and the State of Massachusetts in the areas of economic development, housing and transportation. When we have established our primary analytical tools we then turn our attention to a particularly timely and interesting area of analysis the problems of urban growth, poverty, transportation, congestion, and crime using economic analysis to carefully craft policy options. Problem solving, economic analysis, and analytical writing are emphasized in this course!

Prerequisites

This course necessitates the student having: Sophomore-level standing and EC111

Readings

The required textbook for the course is:

The Urban Experience: Economics, Society, and Public Policy, Bluestone, Huff Stevenson, Williams. 1^st edition, Oxford University Press, 2008,

ISBN#978-0-19-531308-6

Extensive additional readings and case studies will be provided and or posted on Blackboard.

Multimedia

This course will extensively utilize Blackboard for supplemental readings and Text provided PowerPoint presentations on each chapter along with chapter notes. The text also contains: The Urban Experience Resource Kit, developed by Barbara Hamilton of Hamilton Analytics, Inc. which contains a series of data bases (census et al) to allow for demographic and statistical comparison of cities and regions. There will be several homework assignments using this database.

Grading Policy

Exams & Homework

Grades will be based on a midterm and a final exam and upon homework assigned during the semester. The Midterm will be held on: March 7^th. The Final Exam will be held during the allotted exam period at the end of the semester on May 2nd during evening class. Each exam will cover the material presented up to the time of the exam from the text, the class lecture (my own), and the readings handed out in class and or posted on Blackboard. Students are expected to comply with the college's honor code.

Homework is due at the beginning of class. There are SEVEN homework assignments which correspond to their chapters in the text (The Urban Experience) (TUE). Read the Chapters and spend some time mastering the CD-ROM (The Urban Experience Resource Kit) by Barbara Hamilton. I want all of you familiar with how to use Census data to analyze and solve problems. (The software is a bit “glitchy” so do be patient and give it the old “Bentley Try” if you run into problems…

Homework when assigned is to be turned in promptly on the date it is due. Homework is indeed a “perishable good” and your grade will “decompose” rapidly if late. Missing homework can be catastrophic to your grade point average as with homework of “poor quality.”Class participation is not graded, but is essential for your understanding of the material and for successful and fun in-class discussions and exercises.

Quizzes

Quizzes will only occur in a punitive fashion if students are not prepared for class and are not covering the assigned material.

Attendance

Is mandatory. We have only 12 classes to cover a great deal of material, thus, it is vital that you attend each and every class….prepared. The majority of the material that I will be covering in this class is not found in the textbook, and thus, your attendance is proportionate to your desire to actually pass this course. Please come to class prepared to participate. You must also have read the assigned material BEFORE each lecture as I will be referring to the text but often times diverging from it. You are responsible for all of the assigned reading.

Class Calendar

Urban and Regional Economics

ECONOMICS 341-E01

Spring 2011

Bentley University

Instructor: Prof. Bryan Snyder Lecture time: Monday Evenings 6:30pm => 8:50pm

Room: SMI 307

Mondays
Jan. 24^th Chpt.1, Introduction to Cities and Suburbs Chapter #1 The Wonder and Paradox of Urban Life
Introduction to Cities and Suburbs Analytical Assumptions & Axioms Quiz warning! Next class O’Sullivan’s Axioms!
Jan. 31^st Chpt.1 Analytical Assumptions Quiz- O’Sullivan’s Axioms	HW.#1 pg.23 & 24 (TUE) Questions 1 => 6
How Metro Areas Rank. Why Do Cities Exist?
Feb. 7^th Chpt.2 Megacities Mike Davis PLANET OF SLUMS Urban Involution and the Informal Proletariat – New Left Review 26 Mar./Apr. 2004	HW.#2 pg.57 (TUE) Question#3 Our “home” is Boston!
Mike Davis PLANET OF SLUMS Poverty’s Niche in the Ecology of the City – Orion March/April 2006
Dynamics of Metropolitan Development. Urban America from the Seventeenth Century to the Early Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of City Growth Why Do Firms Cluster? THE CORE-PERIPHERY MODEL OF REGIONAL AGGLOMERATION(PDF) Arthur O’Sullivan
Feb. 14^th Chpt.3 Dynamics of Metropolitan Development. Urban America from the Seventeenth Century to the Early Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of City Growth Why Do Firms Cluster? Where Do Firms Locate? (PDF) Arthur O’Sullivan	HW#3 pg.98 (TUE) Questions#1 & #2
Dynamics of Metropolitan Development. Urban America from the Seventeenth Century to the Early Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of City Growth Why Do Firms Cluster? Market Areas and Central Place Theory (PDF) Arthur O’Sullivan
Feb. 21^st Chpt.4 YES! WE DO HAVE CLASS!!!!!! Cities and Suburbs in the Late Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of Metropolitan Expansion Bid Rent Curves Introduction to Land Rent (PDF) Arthur O’Sullivan	HW#4 pg.141 (TUE) Question #3
Cities and Suburbs in the Late Twentieth Century: The Dynamics of Metropolitan Expansion Appendix A: The Alonso Model
Feb. 28^th Chpt.5 U.S. Metro Areas in the Twenty-First Century City: The New Dynamics of Urban Location	HW#5 pg.167 (TUE) Questions #1 or #2 Which ever you prefer!
U.S. Metro Areas in the Twenty-First Century City: The New Dynamics of Urban Location
March 7^th Exam No.#1
March 14^th Spring Break!	Midterm Take-home Exam is due!!! March 28^th
March 21^st Chpt.6 Foundations of Metropolitan Area Prosperity Urban Prosperity and the Role of Trade	HW#6 pg.203 (TUE) Questions#1 =>#6 (The first six questions)
Foundations of Metropolitan Area Prosperity Urban Prosperity and the Role of Trade
March 28^th Chpt.7 Chpt.7 Urban Labor Markets and Metro Prosperity	Midterm Take-home Exam is due!!!
Urban Labor Markets and Metro Prosperity
April 4^th Chpt.10 Chpt.10 Current Policy Issues in Metropolitan Areas Urban Physical Infrastructure: water, Sewer, and waste; Parks and Libraries; Transportation Urban Transportation Externalities from Autos	HW#7 pg.370 (TUE) Questions #7 & #8
Urban Transportation Externalities from Autos
April 11^th Chapter 11 Urban Transportation Externalities from Autos	You’re done! No More HW!
Urban Social Infrastructure: Public Health, Public Safety, and Public Welfare Policy Crime
April 18^th Chpt.12, YES! WE DO HAVE CLASS!!!!!! Urban Housing Markets, Residential Location, and Housing Policy
Chpt.13 Land-Use Controls, Sprawl, and Smart Growth
April 25^th Chpt.14 Urban Economic Development Strategies
Chpt.15 Urban Well Being, Civility, and Civic Engagement in the Twenty First Century
May 2^nd Monday from 6:30pm => 9:00pm FINAL EXAM