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City seeds. Geography and the origins of the European city system

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  • Buringh, Eltjo
  • Bosker, Maarten
Abstract
Geography is widely viewed as the important determinant of city location. This paper empirically disentangles the different roles of geography in shaping the European city system. We present a new database that covers all actual cities as well as potential city locations over the period when the foundations for the European city system were laid. We relate each location?s urban chances to its physical, first nature, geography characteristics, and develop a novel empirical strategy to assess how the existing urban system surrounding each location (second nature geography) determines its urban prospects. First nature geography is the dominant determinant of city location until the sixteenth century. Second nature geography becomes important from the seventeenth century onwards, in a way that corresponds closely to predictions from new economic geography theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Buringh, Eltjo & Bosker, Maarten, 2010. "City seeds. Geography and the origins of the European city system," CEPR Discussion Papers 8066, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8066
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    City origins; Economic geography; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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    1. Historical Economic Geography

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