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Triumph Of The City

Decent Essays

In Chapter 4 ‘How Were the Tenements Tamed?’ of Triumph of the City, Edward Glaeser analyses issues arising from urban concentration in New York and greater America from the late 1700s to the present. As an economist, the author’s interest in cities and urban planning lie in the part they play in facilitating social and commercial networks that are key to the economic and cultural success of metropolitan areas. One of Glaeser’s major concerns relates to the ‘cost’ of urban concentration, i.e. problems that arise in high-density populations due to poor or incomplete urban planning, ultimately impacting the ability of citizens to make valuable interactions. Examples include poor sanitation facilities that permit the spread of disease and hinder productivity; …show more content…

Richardson, Glaeser places certain focus on the importance of sanitation and the provision of clean water as fundamental components in reducing disease in cities. While this issue is highly relevant to the wellbeing of citizens in urban concentrations, Glaeser seems less concerned with it as most present-day cities have overcome these issues through provision of sufficient infrastructure. Of greater interest to the economically fixated Glaeser is the proposal and implementation of urban planning reforms aiming to reduce traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. He points out that congestion encumbers productivity in cities, and is adamant in his view that every driver should be charged for the external cost that their use of the road deposits on other drivers. From an economic perspective, it makes great sense to charge people for their bearing on congested roads to make up for lost time and productivity. Though the author fails to consider other solutions to the congestion problem, such as increasing public transport opportunities and investing in pedestrian and bicycle facilities, his favoured solution would still work well as part of a larger scheme to reduce traffic

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