Hardback
Urban Affairs and Urban Policy
The Selected Essays of Anthony Downs Volume Two
9781858987347 Edward Elgar Publishing
The articles in this book set forth fundamental policy analyses concerning all of the major elements of urban policy. Written in Downs’s exceptionally clear and compelling style they focus on the space-related dimensions of urban affairs, ranging from traffic congestion to telecommunications, education, and housing, with additional analyses of key aspects of real estate finance. Together, these essays form a veritable handbook of how to conduct urban policy analysis in many fields. The analysis and conclusions are directly relevant to the urban problems which are intensifying throughout the world today.
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Critical Acclaim
Contents
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This volume contains the most significant and still timely articles on urban economics, metropolitan and regional planning, real-estate economics and housing written by the noted urban economist Anthony Downs over the past four decades. The book has a new autobiographical introduction outlining Downs’s extensive experience as a real estate and urban affairs consultant and policy analyst for hundreds of private firms and government bodies since 1959.
The articles in this book set forth fundamental policy analyses concerning all of the major elements of urban policy. Written in Downs’s exceptionally clear and compelling style they focus on the space-related dimensions of urban affairs, ranging from traffic congestion to telecommunications, education, and housing, with additional analyses of key aspects of real estate finance. Together, these essays form a veritable handbook of how to conduct urban policy analysis in many fields. The analysis and conclusions are directly relevant to the urban problems which are intensifying throughout the world today.
This important book will be an essential companion to scholars and students of housing, urban planning, transport, regional science and real estate, it will also be useful to policymakers and government officials.
The articles in this book set forth fundamental policy analyses concerning all of the major elements of urban policy. Written in Downs’s exceptionally clear and compelling style they focus on the space-related dimensions of urban affairs, ranging from traffic congestion to telecommunications, education, and housing, with additional analyses of key aspects of real estate finance. Together, these essays form a veritable handbook of how to conduct urban policy analysis in many fields. The analysis and conclusions are directly relevant to the urban problems which are intensifying throughout the world today.
This important book will be an essential companion to scholars and students of housing, urban planning, transport, regional science and real estate, it will also be useful to policymakers and government officials.
Critical Acclaim
‘In short, a valuable book for those interested in the evolution of thinking about urban problems in the United States, and for those seeking a clearly written, logically thought out, compact statement of alternate practically feasible urban policies.’
– Peter Marcuse, Netherlands Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
‘Anthony Downs is one of the outstanding thinkers of our times. In an age and country where the title of intellectual has become almost a term of abuse, he has demonstrated the power of ideas in the world of practical affairs. His work focuses on problems, and cuts through disciplinary boundaries. It is informed by a concern to improve the human condition, and a commitment to rigorous analysis of how this can be achieved. The papers in this collection, from his classic work on the economic theory of democracy, to his writings on urban policy and property markets, provide a summary of forty years of a career that has decisively shaped the way in which we think about public affairs.’
– Michael Keating, University of Western Ontario, Canada
‘Anthony Downs is one of the founding fathers of modern public choice theory. His seminal contributions, some of which are reprinted in these volumes, remain an important source of inspiration for today’s scholars. Reading the articles reprinted in these two books will be a highly rewarding experience, readers will be reminded of the fundamental issues in the political-economic analysis of democracy and the powerful insights which are obtained from an application of this approach to policy problems. Downs is a master analyst and practitioner and a powerful communicator. Those coming fresh to the subject will be greatly stimulated by his writings.’
– Peter Jackson, University of Leicester, UK
– Peter Marcuse, Netherlands Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
‘Anthony Downs is one of the outstanding thinkers of our times. In an age and country where the title of intellectual has become almost a term of abuse, he has demonstrated the power of ideas in the world of practical affairs. His work focuses on problems, and cuts through disciplinary boundaries. It is informed by a concern to improve the human condition, and a commitment to rigorous analysis of how this can be achieved. The papers in this collection, from his classic work on the economic theory of democracy, to his writings on urban policy and property markets, provide a summary of forty years of a career that has decisively shaped the way in which we think about public affairs.’
– Michael Keating, University of Western Ontario, Canada
‘Anthony Downs is one of the founding fathers of modern public choice theory. His seminal contributions, some of which are reprinted in these volumes, remain an important source of inspiration for today’s scholars. Reading the articles reprinted in these two books will be a highly rewarding experience, readers will be reminded of the fundamental issues in the political-economic analysis of democracy and the powerful insights which are obtained from an application of this approach to policy problems. Downs is a master analyst and practitioner and a powerful communicator. Those coming fresh to the subject will be greatly stimulated by his writings.’
– Peter Jackson, University of Leicester, UK
Contents
Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The Law of Peak-Hour Expressway Congestion 2. Alternative Futures for the American Ghetto 3. Housing the Urban Poor 4. Competition and Community Schools 5. The Economics of New Towns 6. The Automotive Population Explosion 7. Living with Advanced Telecommunications 8. A Strategy for Designing a National Housing Policy for the Federal Government of the United States 9. The Fundamental Shift in Real Estate Finance 10. What Have We Learned from the 1980s Experience? 11. Key Trends in the External Environment of Commerical Real Properties 12. Contrasting Strategies for the Economic Development of Metropolitan Areas in the United States and Western Europe
