Asbtract
This paper studies how industries shape the life and death of cities. Using data on the industrial composition of English and Welsh cities over the course of two centuries, along with a novel measure of exogenous land fragmentation within a narrow ring around city borders, we show that cities that specialized in a few industries during the nineteenth century went on to decline later. We develop a dynamic spatial model of cities and their industries over time to understand the forces which govern the life and death of cities. The model helps untangle the role of aggregate industry trends from city-specific externalities à la Jacobs in explaining these long-run dynamics.
Invited by: Bruno Conte