Villes et économie : les infortunes du savoir

Cities include half of the world?s population and economic power more than proportionally. What can the economic argument about their formation, structure and evolution say? How can the contemporary economics of cities reflect the economy of contemporary cities? Over the passed years, the city has often been missing from economic thought. Today the city seems marginalized in economic analysis but also in spatial economics. It is often overshadowed by the interest in regional economy. It is neglected by research on productive and innovative agglomerations. Work dedicated to cities does not give a fair account of its complexity. Modeling helps to understand the logic of its formation, but it still stays back from its recent evolution. However, economic theory of cities is changing rapidly towards greater realism. Better interacting within economic research on space and the city would, for sure, greatly favor the advance of knowledge.