City growth in Europe

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A notable feature of literature on "new economic geography" is the strong link between theoretical and empirical work, with theoretical studies increasingly focused on real-world phenomena. Recent empirical work in urban economics, however, suffers from a concentration on only two estimation strategies, often limited by data availability. Most analyses are either cross-country studies seeking rich datasets or single-country studies, frequently centered on U.S. experiences. This book offers a new European perspective, emphasizing the interest in European cities while combining both approaches. It compiles a new dataset covering 13 countries from 1870 to 1990, allowing for exploration of several recently proposed hypotheses. Three main issues are discussed: city growth patterns and their implications for Zipf's law, the relationship between trade openness and urban concentration, and the historical role in city growth. The findings are striking; for instance, there is weak evidence for random growth across cities, and the connection between external trade and internal geography appears tenuous. Additionally, the urban dominance of Vienna post-1918 supports the notion of path dependence in city growth. Overall, the European experience presents a rich source of real-world data awaiting exploration.