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Urban form and sustainable development

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  • Sophie Legras
  • Jean Cavailhès

Abstract

In this paper we study how the urban structure affects two environmental outcomes : greenhouse gas emissions from commuting and the conversion of agricultural/natural land ressources. The urban structure is characterized by its degree of polycentrism and by the share of urban and peri-urban dwellers. Polycentrism may lead to opposite eects on these indicators as lower commuting costs in secondary centers lead to lower land rents that may allow households to consume more residential land; furthermore commuting lenght may decrease, if workers commute to the closest business district, inducing less GHG emissions. The environmental impact of the urban structure is very dependant on residential lot sizes, fixed within zones but dierent between them. Then we address the implementation of two types of instruments to comply with an exogenous GHG target, a commuting tax/subsidy and a communication tax/subsidy for firms established in the secondary center.

Suggested Citation

  • Sophie Legras & Jean Cavailhès, 2012. "Urban form and sustainable development," INRA UMR CESAER Working Papers 2012/5, INRA UMR CESAER, Centre d'’Economie et Sociologie appliquées à l'’Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux.
    • Handle: RePEc:ceo:wpaper:37
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Legras, Sophie, 2015. "Correlated environmental impacts of wastewater management in a spatial context," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 83-92.
    2. Borck, Rainald, 2014. "Will skyscrapers save the planet?," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100566, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Borck, Rainald, 2016. "Will skyscrapers save the planet? Building height limits and urban greenhouse gas emissions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 13-25.
    4. Sophie Legras, 2013. "From the tank to climate change: multiple environmental impacts of wastewater management," Working Papers hal-01190244, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Polycentrism; Urban costs; Communication costs; Commuting costs; Environmental policy; Greenhouse gas emissions; Land conversion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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