| Summary: | A study was conducted to examine the historical patterns of urban development in the U.S. between 1690 and 1990. Findings reveal that there have been two significant turning points in the history of U.S. urban development: The first occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and coincided with a shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy, and the second occurred in the mid-20th century and coincided with a shift toward a service economy. The pace and pattern of urban development can be explained by changes in regional comparative advantage and in economies in transportation and local public goods, which in turn were determined by structural changes in the economy. Furthermore, the considerable variation in city size, exhibited throughout U.S. urban development, occurred because larger cities lowered the costs of market transactions.
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