IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/kof/wpskof/08-208.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fifty Years of Urban Accessibility: The Impact of Urban Railway Network on the Land Gradient in Industrializing Berlin

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriel Ahlfeldt
  • Nicolai Wendeland

Abstract

As the first to use an archival data set on historical land values of Berlin, Germany, from 1890 to 1936, we exploit exogenous variation in transport technology in order to test the validity of the monocentric city model. Endogenously determining the CBD, we conduct cross-section and time-difference analysis and model the land gradient in terms of straight-line distance and travel times. A counterfactual scenario indicates that a large proportion of urban decentralization is attributable to improvements in transport infrastructure. Controlling for spatial dependency, results suggest that the monocentric model fitted the city structure until the mid 20th century.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Nicolai Wendeland, 2008. "Fifty Years of Urban Accessibility: The Impact of Urban Railway Network on the Land Gradient in Industrializing Berlin," KOF Working papers 08-208, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-208
    DOI: 10.3929/ethz-a-005705229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-005705229
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3929/ethz-a-005705229?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Plaut, Pnina Ohanna & Plaut, Steven E., 1998. "Endogenous Identification of Multiple Housing Price Centers in Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 193-217, September.
    2. Arne Feddersen & Wolfgang Maennig, 2005. "Trends in Competitive Balance: Is there Evidence for Growing Imbalance in Professional Sport Leagues?," Working Papers 0012005, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    3. Wolfgang Maennig & Florian Schwarthoff, 2006. "Stadium Architecture and regional economic development: International experience and the plans of Durban," Working Papers 200604, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    4. Gibbons, Stephen & Machin, Stephen, 2005. "Valuing rail access using transport innovations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 148-169, January.
    5. Kau, James B. & Sirmans, C. F., 1979. "Urban land value functions and the price elasticity of demand for housing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 112-121, January.
    6. Anselin, Luc & Bera, Anil K. & Florax, Raymond & Yoon, Mann J., 1996. "Simple diagnostic tests for spatial dependence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 77-104, February.
    7. Arne Feddersen, 2006. "Economic Consequences of the UEFA Champions League for National Championships - The Case of Germany," Working Papers 0012006, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    8. McMillen, Daniel P., 1996. "One Hundred Fifty Years of Land Values in Chicago: A Nonparametric Approach," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 100-124, July.
    9. McMillen, Daniel P. & McDonald, John F., 1991. "Urban land value functions with endogenous zoning," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 14-27, January.
    10. Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 2001. "Externalities and Cities," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(2), pages 245-274, April.
    11. Fujita, Masahisa & Ogawa, Hideaki, 1982. "Multiple equilibria and structural transition of non-monocentric urban configurations," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 161-196, May.
    12. McMillen, Daniel P., 1990. "Consistent estimation of the urban land value function," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 285-293, May.
    13. J F McDonald & D P McMillen, 1990. "Employment Subcenters and Land Values in a Polycentric Urban Area: The Case of Chicago," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(12), pages 1561-1574, December.
    14. McMillen, Daniel P. & Jarmin, Ronald & Thorsnes, Paul, 1992. "Selection bias and land development in the monocentric city model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 273-284, May.
    15. McDonald, John F. & Bowman, H. Woods, 1979. "Land value functions: A reevaluation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 25-41, January.
    16. Robert E. Lucas & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2002. "On the Internal Structure of Cities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(4), pages 1445-1476, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leo Doerr, 2024. "Aid and growth: Asymmetric effects?," Working Papers 076, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    2. Franziska K. Kruse & Wolfgang Maennig, 2017. "The future development of world records," Working Papers 061, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    3. Falch, Torberg & Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "Public sector decentralization and school performance: International evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 276-279.
    4. Daniel P. McMillen, 2010. "Issues In Spatial Data Analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 119-141, February.
    5. Franziska K. Kruse & Wolfgang Maennig, 2019. "Yellow Cards and Suspension by Choice: Determinants and Asymmetries," Working Papers 064, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    6. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Wendland, Nicolai, 2009. "Looming stations: Valuing transport innovations in historical context," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 97-99, October.
    7. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Wolfgang Maennig & Felix J. Richter, 2017. "Zoning in reunified Berlin," Working Papers 059, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    8. Maennig, Wolfgang & Wilhelm, Stefan, 2023. "News and noise in crime politics: The role of announcements and risk attitudes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Wolfgang Maennig, 2023. "Centralization in National High-Performance Sports Systems: Reasons, Processes, Dimensions, Characteristics, and Open Questions," Working Papers 073, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    10. Wolfgang Maennig, 2017. "Public Referenda and Public Opinion on Olympic Games," Working Papers 057, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    11. Steffen Q. Mueller, 2020. "Pre- and within-season attendance forecasting in Major League Baseball: a random forest approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(41), pages 4512-4528, September.
    12. Wolfgang Maennig & Stefan Wilhelm, 2023. "Crime Prevention Effects of Data Retention Policies," Working Papers 074, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    13. Wolfgang Maennig, 2017. "Governance in Sports Organizations," Working Papers 060, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    14. Fischer, Justina AV & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2010. "The impact of institutions on firms’ rejuvenation policies: Early retirement with severance pay versus simple lay-off. A Cross-European Analysis," MPRA Paper 20343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Steffen Q. Mueller & Patrick Ring & Maria Schmidt, 2019. "Forecasting economic decisions under risk: The predictive importance of choice-process data," Working Papers 066, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.
    16. Wolfgang Maennig, 2017. "Major Sports Events: Economic Impact," Working Papers 058, Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M., 2008. "If Alonso was Right: Residual Land Price, Accessibility and Urban Attraction," MPRA Paper 11707, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Wendland, Nicolai, 2011. "Fifty years of urban accessibility: The impact of the urban railway network on the land gradient in Berlin 1890-1936," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 77-88, March.
    3. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Nicolai Wendland, 2010. "How Polycentric is a Monocentric City? The Role of Agglomeration Economies," EERI Research Paper Series EERI_RP_2010_24, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    4. Hernán Enríquez Sierra & Jacobo Campo Robledo & Antonio Avendaño Arosemena, 2015. "Relaciones regionales en los precios de vivienda nueva en Colombia," Revista Ecos de Economía, Universidad EAFIT, vol. 19(40), pages 25-47, June.
    5. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Wendland, Nicolai, 2009. "Looming stations: Valuing transport innovations in historical context," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 97-99, October.
    6. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Nitsch, Volker & Wendland, Nicolai, 2019. "Ease vs. noise: Long-run changes in the value of transport (dis)amenities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Nicolai Wendland, 2013. "How polycentric is a monocentric city? Centers, spillovers and hysteresis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 53-83, January.
    8. Gabriel M. Ahfeldt & Alexandra Mastro, 2011. "Valuing Iconic Design: Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture in Oak Park, Illinois," SERC Discussion Papers 0084, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. McMillen, Daniel P., 2003. "The return of centralization to Chicago: using repeat sales to identify changes in house price distance gradients," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 287-304, May.
    10. Zhi Dong & Tien Sing, 2014. "Developer Heterogeneity and Competitive Land Bidding," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 441-466, April.
    11. Nicolai Wendland, 2015. "All access: a micro-level case study on the secondary center of Berlin (1871–1936)," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(2), pages 375-399, March.
    12. Ahlfeldt Gabriel M., 2011. "The Train has Left the Station: Do Markets Value Intracity Access to Intercity Rail Connections?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 312-335, August.
    13. David Dale-Johnson & W. Jan Brzeski, 1999. "Evolution of Land Values in Cracow during the Transformation of the Polish Economy," Working Paper 8651, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    14. Bischoff, Oliver, 2012. "Explaining regional variation in equilibrium real estate prices and income," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 1-15.
    15. Grover,Arti & Lall,Somik V., 2016. "Jobs in the city : explaining urban spatial structure in Kampala," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7655, The World Bank.
    16. Pan, Haozhi & Deal, Brian & Chen, Yan & Hewings, Geoffrey, 2018. "A Reassessment of urban structure and land-use patterns: distance to CBD or network-based? — Evidence from Chicago," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 215-228.
    17. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2015. "Urban Land Use," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 467-560, Elsevier.
    18. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Volker Nitsch & Nicolai Wendland, 2019. "Ease versus noise: long-run changes in the value of transport (dis)amenities," CEP Discussion Papers dp1631, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Alexandra Mastro, 2012. "Valuing Iconic Design: Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture in Oak Park, Illinois," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(8), pages 1079-1099, November.
    20. Frederic Gilli, 2009. "Sprawl or Reagglomeration? The Dynamics of Employment Deconcentration and Industrial Transformation in Greater Paris," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(7), pages 1385-1420, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transport Innovations; Land Values; Location Productivity; Economic History;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N7 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services
    • N9 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History
    • R33 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Nonagricultural and Nonresidential Real Estate Markets
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-208. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/koethch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.