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The Vertical City: The Price of Land and the Height of Buildings in Chicago 1870-2010

Author

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  • Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt
  • Daniel P. McMillen

Abstract

We analyze the determinants of building heights in Chicago by combining a micro-geographic data set on tall buildings with a unique panel of land prices covering 140 years. Consistent with the predictions of classic urban economics models, we find that developers respond to increasing land prices by increasing density, i.e. building taller. In 2000, the elasticity of height with respect of land price was about 45% for tall commercial buildings and 30% for tall residential buildings. As expected given significant improvement in construction technology over time, we find that the height elasticity approximately doubled over the last 100 years. We find evidence for dissipative height competition within cities, as excessively tall buildings are significantly less likely to be constructed near to each other than other buildings. Proximity to scenic amenities creates an extra incentive to outrival competitors, particularly in the residential market.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Daniel P. McMillen, 2015. "The Vertical City: The Price of Land and the Height of Buildings in Chicago 1870-2010," SERC Discussion Papers 0180, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sercdp:0180
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    Cited by:

    1. Jason Barr & Remi Jedwab, 2023. "Exciting, boring, and nonexistent skylines: Vertical building gaps in global perspective," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(6), pages 1512-1546, November.
    2. Raymond Owens III & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Pierre-Daniel Sarte, 2020. "Rethinking Detroit," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 258-305, May.
    3. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Liu, Crocker H. & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2018. "The vertical city: Rent gradients, spatial structure, and agglomeration economies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 101-122.
    5. Gabriel M. Ahfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani, 2017. "The Compact City in Empirical Research: A Quantitative Literature Review," SERC Discussion Papers 0215, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Ahfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2017. "The compact city in empirical research: A quantitative literature review," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 83638, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Federico Curci & Federico Masera, 2018. "Flight from urban blight: lead poisoning, crime and suburbanization," Working Papers 2018/09, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    8. Barr, Jason & Smith, Fred H. & Kulkarni, Sayali J., 2018. "What's Manhattan worth? A land values index from 1950 to 2014," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-19.
    9. Jayson Danton & Alexander Himbert, 2017. "Residential Vertical Rent Gradients in the City," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 17.11, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Chicago; density; height; land value; skyscraper;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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