Space, agglomeration economies and urban development

Abstract

In the major theories of economic development, the spatial aspect has often been neglected. Within the evolution of regional development theories, not only is there a shift in focus from exogenous to endogenous factors, but also an increasing importance of human capital in the development process. Agglomeration economies are ultimately driven by savings in transport costs, related not only to the exchange of goods and services, but also to people and ideas. Large cities play crucial role in knowledge spillover because the interaction of educated and creative people stimulates innovation. Also, it is obvious that there is a very pronounced feedback principle between urban growth and the knowledge spillover. Contemporary urbanization trends are perfectly matched with the technological advances of the new age which led to sharp decrease of costs of communication and transfer of information. These processes (that trigger pronounced agglomeration diseconomies, such as pollution, rising cost of living and congestion), accompanied by the demographic explosion that is especially evident in developing countries, bring into focus the problems of urban development.

U vladajućim teorijama ekonomskog razvoja prostorni aspekt je bio vrlo često zanemarivan. U evoluciji teorija regionalnog razvoja uočava se ne samo pomeranje fokusa sa egzogenih na endogene faktore već i rastući značaj ljudskog kapitala u procesu razvoja. Aglomeracijske ekonomije, u krajnjoj liniji, nastaju usled ušteda u transportnim troškovima, vezanim ne samo za razmenu dobara i usluga, već i ljudi i ideja. Veliki gradovi imaju presudnu ulogu u prelivanju znanja budući da, interakcija obrazovanih i kreativnihljudi stimuliše inovacije. Očigledno je i da između urbanog rasta i prelivanja znanja postoji veoma izražen princip povratne sprege. Savremeni trendovi urbanizacije se savršeno poklapaju sa tehnološkim napretkom novog doba koji je doveo do značajnog opadanja troškova komunikacije i prenosa informacija. Ovi procesi (koji izazivaju sve izraženije aglomeracijske disekonomije poput zagađenja, narastajućih troškova života i zagušenja) praćeni demografskom eksplozijom, posebno istaknuti u zemljama u razvoju, stavljaju ufokus problematiku urbanog razvoja.