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Aging nations and the future of cities

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  • GAIGNE, Carl
  • THISSE, Jean-Jacques

Abstract

We investigate whether an aging population may challenge the supremacy of large working-cities. To this end, we develop an economic geography model with two types of individuals (workers and retirees) and two sectors (local services and manufacturing). Workers produce and consume; the elderly consume only. As a result, the mobility decision of workers is driven by both the wage gap and the cost-of-living gap, unlike the elderly who react to the differences in the cost of living only. We show that the return of pre-industrial urban system dominated by rentier cities does not seem to be on the agenda. Quite the opposite, the future of large working-cities is still bright, the reason being that today?s urban costs act as a strong force that prevents a large share of local services and manufacturing firms from following the rentiers in the elderly-cities, while the supply of differentiated b2c services prevent their complete separation.
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Suggested Citation

  • GAIGNE, Carl & THISSE, Jean-Jacques, 2009. "Aging nations and the future of cities," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2170, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvrp:2170
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2009.00629.x
    Note: In : Journal of Regional Science, 49(4), 663-688, 2009
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    Cited by:

    1. Madoka Muroishi & Akira Yakita, 2021. "Agglomeration economies, congestion diseconomies, and fertility dynamics in a two-region economy," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 51-63, April.
    2. Takahashi, Takaaki, 2022. "On the economic geography of an aging society," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. K. Newbold, 2015. "Population aging: What role for regional science?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(2), pages 357-372, December.
    4. Steven Brakman & Charles Van Marrewijk, 2009. "Introduction: Heterogeneity At Different Spatial Scales," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 607-615, October.
    5. Seunghun Chung & Oudom Hean, 2023. "The Effects of Aging Populations on U.S. Communities," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-9, November.
    6. Carl Gaigné & Jacques-François Thisse, 2013. "New Economic Geography and the City," Working Papers SMART 13-02, INRAE UMR SMART.
    7. Grafeneder-Weissteiner, Theresa & Prettner, Klaus, 2013. "Agglomeration and demographic change," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-11.
    8. Dean M. Hanink, 2010. "Perspectives on Regional Change: A Review Essay on Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 3-27, March.
    9. David Plane, 2012. "What about aging in regional science?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(2), pages 469-483, April.
    10. Rafael González‐Val, 2010. "The Evolution Of U.S. City Size Distribution From A Long‐Term Perspective (1900–2000)," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(5), pages 952-972, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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