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Resetting the Urban Network: 117–2012

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  • Guy Michaels
  • Ferdinand Rauch

Abstract

Do fixed geographic features such as coastlines and rivers determine town locations, or can historical events trap towns in unfavourable locations for centuries? We examine the effects on town locations of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which temporarily ended urbanisation in Britain, but not in France. As urbanisation recovered, medieval towns were more often found in Roman†era town locations in France than in Britain. The resetting of Britain's urban network gave it better access to natural navigable waterways, which mattered for town growth from 1200 to 1800. We conclude that history trapped many French towns in suboptimal locations.

Suggested Citation

  • Guy Michaels & Ferdinand Rauch, 2018. "Resetting the Urban Network: 117–2012," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 378-412, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:128:y:2018:i:608:p:378-412
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12424
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    Cited by:

    1. Bakker, Jan David & Maurer, Stephan & Pischke, Jörn-Steffen & Rauch, Ferdinand, 2018. "Of mice and merchants: trade and growth in the Iron Age," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91679, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Stephen J. Redding, 2020. "Trade and Geography," NBER Working Papers 27821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Rui Du & Junfu Zhang, 2019. "Walled cities and urban density in China," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(3), pages 1517-1539, June.
    4. Gojko Barjamovic & Thomas Chaney & Kerem Coşar & Ali Hortaçsu, 2019. "Trade, Merchants, and the Lost Cities of the Bronze Age," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 134(3), pages 1455-1503.
    5. Takashi Akamatsu & Tomoya Mori & Minoru Osawa & Yuki Takayama, 2019. "Multimodal agglomeration in economic geography," Papers 1912.05113, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2023.
    6. Fernihough, Alan, 2024. "Economic Geography and the Irish Border: A Market Access Approach," QBS Working Paper Series 2024/02, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    7. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2023. "Urban Growth and Its Aggregate Implications," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 2219-2259, November.
    8. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Jan David Bakker & Stephan Maurer & Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Ferdinand Rauch, 2021. "Of Mice and Merchants: Connectedness and the Location of Economic Activity in the Iron Age," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(4), pages 652-665, October.
    10. Siodla, James, 2021. "Firms, fires, and firebreaks: The impact of the 1906 San Francisco disaster on business agglomeration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet & Garcia-Lopez, Miquel-Angel & Pasidis, Ilias, 2018. "Amphitheaters, cathedrals and operas: The role of historic amenities on suburbanization," CEPR Discussion Papers 13129, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Messner, Teresa & Rumler, Fabio & Strasser, Georg, 2022. "Cross-country price and inflation dispersion: Retail network or national border," Single Market Economics Papers WP2022/11, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission), Chief Economist Team.
    13. Chen, Ting & Kung, James Kai-sing, 2022. "War shocks, migration, and historical spatial development in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. V. Licio, 2019. "When history leaves a mark: a new measure of Roman roads," Working Paper CRENoS 201904, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    15. Allen, Treb & Donaldson, Dave, 2022. "Persistence and path dependence: A primer," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. Vania Licio, 2021. "When History Leaves a Mark: A New Measure of Roman Roads," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 7(1), pages 1-35, March.
    17. Smith, Michael E., 2022. "How can Research on Past Urban Adaptations be Made Useful for Sustainability Science?," SocArXiv 3fy5b, Center for Open Science.
    18. Johannes C. Buggle & Steven Nafziger, 2021. "The Slow Road from Serfdom: Labor Coercion and Long-Run Development in the Former Russian Empire," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(1), pages 1-17, March.
    19. Oto-Peralías, Daniel, 2020. "Frontiers, warfare and economic geography: The case of Spain," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Duc A. Nguyen & Steven Brakman & Harry Garretsen & Tristan Kohl, 2023. "What’s in a Name? Initial Geography and German Urban Development," CESifo Working Paper Series 10435, CESifo.

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