City Sector Model

Xi'an: Ancient and Modern: The Evolving Urban Form

xian-bell-tower.jpg

Xi’an (pronunciation) is located in central China, on the Wei River, a tributary of the flood-prone Yellow River (Huang He). Xi’an is at the bottom of the “Ordos Loop” (see Surprising Ordos: The Evolving Urban Form), which is formed by the Yellow River’s sharp northward turn upstream at Lanzhou, toward Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol).  read more »

Latest Data Shows Pre-Pandemic Suburban/Exurban Population Gains

columbus-central-business-district.jpg

The latest complete American Community Survey (ACS) data, analyzed by the Demographia City Sector Model, indicates that population growth in the nation’s 53 major metropolitan areas (over 1,000,000 residents) continues to be, even before the pandemic, overwhelmingly suburban and exurban.  read more »

Can Ford's Urban Gambit Survive Pandemic?

ford-plaza-rendering.jpg

Ford Motor Co. unveiled grand plans this week to enhance its investment in the Corktown precinct of Detroit, envisioning creation of a 30-acre “mobility innovation district” around the iconic but crumbling Michigan Central train station that the automaker is restoring to make a hip urban locale for 2,500 engineers and tech people.  read more »

Hangzhou: The Evolving Urban Form

1280px-Hangzhou_CBD_2.jpg

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province in China. Hangzhou’s historic core is located approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Shanghai and approximately 1,100 kilometers (675 miles) from Beijing .It is the largest municipality in Zhejiang, having passed Wenzhou within the last decade.  read more »

Poor City, Rich Suburb: A Defining Characteristic of the Rust Belt

suburb-city.jpg

We all know that for decades the suburbia narrative was one of homogenized, sprawled and insulated wealth separated from diverse, dense and isolated poverty. We also know that's changed dramatically over the last 30-40 years. But that distinction really first became codified in the development patterns of cities that boomed in the late 19th/early 20th century: coincidentally, when Rust Belt cities boomed.  read more »

Efficiency and Effectiveness in Ohio Townships

ohio-statehouse.jpg

For decades, political interests and academics have proposed measures to require consolidation of local governments under the assumption that “bigger-is-better,” and that larger governments are inherently more efficient. Often such initiatives equate efficiency with a smaller number of governments. The data indicates otherwise.  read more »

The Pre-Pandemic Rise of Working from Home (Telework) and Beyond

Ranier-Square-Tower.jpg

The 2019 market share data has just been released by the American Community Survey. Looking at driving alone and transit market shares, there has been virtually no change since 2010, with driving alone accounting for about three-quarters of commuting, while transit remains steady at 5%. The big news before Covid: the increase in people usually working from home (also referred to as telework or telecommuting)  read more »

CSY Repost: The Community and Economic Development Hierarchy

HOL1920-Business-briefs.jpg

I've spent many, many years of my career working to improve the economic development prospects of communities. Wanting to make a meaningful, positive contribution to the revitalization of cities is what pushed me into this career path. More to the point, I've spent a good deal of that time working in places that were facing stiff economic headwinds working against them.  read more »

The Challenge of Revitalizing Urban Boulevards

Vancouver_Skyline_01.jpg

One of the toughest challenges in real estate is revitalizing urban boulevards. There are dozens of plans for remaking these, but very few of these plans have actually sparked much private investment back of the curb line, and the reason is that in most cases these streets are simply so big and busy that people don't want to live or shop along them. It's time to use a new strategy, one of building at right angles to them, and of re-attaching underused land to the surrounding neighborhoods.  read more »

Demographia World Urban Areas, 2020: Tokyo Lead Diminishing

DUA-2020.jpg

For the first time in more than six decades the world’s second ranked built-up urban area has reached within 10% of leader Tokyo. The 2020 edition of Demographia World Urban Areas reports that Jakarta has reached a population of 34.5 million, behind Tokyo-Yokohama’s 38.0 million (Figure 1). The report can be downloaded here (Note 1).  read more »