Urban Agglomeration and Economic Growth

This is the flfth volume in the series of books emanating from the activities of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. The Foundation was established by Helmut Sohmen of Hong Kong in memory of his late brother, Egon Sohmen (1930-1977), who was an interna tional economist, highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. The conference topics in previous years were ''Towards a Mar ket Economy in Central and Eastern Europe," "Money, Trade, and Competition," "Economic Progress and Environmental Con cerns," and "Economic Aspects of International Migration." These are also the titles of the respective conference volumes (edited by Herbert Giersch and published by Springer). The topic of the 1993 conference evolved from a suggestion made by Regine Sohmen, Egon's widow, who reported about her husband's increasing interest in urban economics during the 19708, when he was teaching at the University of Heidelberg and became concerned with the romantic town's congestion problem. The idea struck me as important also from the angle of trade and economic growth that had attracted Egon Sohmen's interest in the 1960s, notably when we were both lecturing at the University ofthe Saar. This angle can be briefly described as follows.

Klappentext

Urban Agglomeration and Economic Growth is the fifth volume in the series of books emanating from the activities of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. It contains 10 papers (plus a supplementary note) which were presented at an international conference in Zurich, Switzerland, in summer 1993. These papers cover historical and theoretical aspects as well as policy implications. The volume contains contributions by M. Beckmann, H.-J. Ewers, R.H. Funck, M. van Geenhuizen and P. Nijkamp, G. Giuliano and K.A. Small, P. Hall, H. Klodt, J. Mokyr, H.W. Richardson and J.G. Williamson.

Inhalt
I: History.- Urbanization, Technological Progress, and Economic History.- Urbanization, Industrial Dynamics, and Spatial Development: A Company Life History Approach.- Migration and City Growth during Industrial Revolutions.- II: Theory.- Economic Growth in a Central Place System.- Supplementary Note on Economic Growth in a Central Place System.- Economies and Diseconomies of Agglomeration.- Structural Change in Urban Growth.- The Locational Impact of Declining Costs of Transportation and Communication.- III: Policy Implications.- Alternative Strategies for Coping with Traffic Congestion.- Competition among Locations: Objectives, Instruments, Strategies, Perspectives.- The Future of Planning.- About the Authors.