Market Forces and Urban Spatial Structure: Evidence from Beijing, China

dc.contributor.advisorDing, Chengrien_US
dc.contributor.authorZhao, Xingshuoen_US
dc.contributor.departmentUrban and Regional Planning and Designen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2010-10-07T06:15:36Z
dc.date.available2010-10-07T06:15:36Z
dc.date.issued2010en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation contributes to the literature on urban spatial structure by addressing two research questions. First, it empirically examines the urban economic theory by testing the relationship between the distance elasticities of land prices and housing prices. The theory indicates that land prices are more elastic with respect to distance from the city center than housing prices; in other words, land prices decline faster than housing prices. Using data from Beijing, which include matched housing and land prices, my findings support the theory. Second, this dissertation investigates the impacts of housing services production in general and the impacts of the capital-land substitution in particular on urban spatial structure. Using a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function for housing services, I theoretically derive the impacts of the elasticity of capital-land substitution on urban spatial structure, which is measured in terms of the distance gradients of land prices and capital densities, the housing output per unit of land, and the ratio of the distance elasticity of land prices to the distance elasticity of housing prices. The derived results suggest that an increase in the elasticity of capital-land substitution leads to increases in the land price, the capital density, and the housing output per unit of land at any location within the city, flattening of the land price and capital density curves, an increase in the ratio of the distance elasticity of land prices to the distance elasticity of housing prices, an expansion of the city boundary, and a growth in the population. These theoretical results are verified by numerical simulations and empirical estimations using the Beijing data. The simulations also reveal the magnitudes of these impacts: a 1% change in the elasticity of capital-land substitution leads to 15-20% changes in the total land value and housing output. The findings of this dissertation have practical implications in housing market behaviors, land value assessment for property taxation, and urban land use policy and planning.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/10971
dc.subject.pqcontrolledUrban and Regional Planningen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledChinaen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledElasticity of substitutionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledHousing productionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledLand demanden_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledUrban spatial structureen_US
dc.titleMarket Forces and Urban Spatial Structure: Evidence from Beijing, Chinaen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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