Transportation Infrastructure and Urban and Regional Development

The literature assessing the effects of transportation infrastructure on how people and economic activity distribute themselves across a system of cities has three main parts. The theoretical literature makes robust predictions about how transportation infrastructure affects the internal structure of cities, but for systems of cities, theory does not let us rule much out. The city-level empirical literature establishes that improved urban transportation infrastructure causes suburban migration, but has only a small impact on city population. This literature is less helpful for understanding the effects of transportation infrastructure on the way people are distributed across a system of cities, but has made some progress. The small empirical literature looking at how transportation infrastructure affects systems of cities using cross-country data remains underdeveloped and is inconclusive. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.