Staff involved: Vernon Henderson
I am a co-principal investigator on a multi-year project examining urbanization across the world. The programme examines the patterns, causes, consequences, and policy implications of the spatial development of cities in developing countries, with a focus so far on China, India, sub-Saharan Africa and Vietnam. My own work in that programme focuses on:
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The impact of the national highway construction in China on city growth. How to assess that impact on population relocation, GDP growth, differentiating between regional primate and other cities and assessing the impact of new highways on promotion of domestic vs international trade by cities.
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The effect on city growth in China of favouritism in capital markets. In the state influenced capital markets cities preferential treatment varies as national and local political leaders change. Changes in preferential treatment affect city growth.
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The effect of past climate change in Africa on local urbanization. As climate has dried out in much of Sub-Saharan Africa over the last 50 years under what conditions do regions experience enhanced urbanization, or when does enhanced urbanization provide an “escape value” for climate deterioration.
Working papers:
Has Climate Change Driven Urbanization in Africa (with Storeygard)
The Bias towards Politically Connected Cities in China’s Capital Markets (with Chen and Cai)
Roads, Rails and Development in Chinese Cities (with Baum-Snow, Brandt, Turner and Zhang)