Overview
With regard to the merits of cities, previous literature, and especially empirical studies, have mainly focused on the advantages for the production side. On the other hand, cities provide residents with access to a wide range of consumption and amenities, as well as opportunities for production (employment). However, due to the lack of comprehensive data on the social and economic activities of urban residents, empirical analysis of the benefits of cities other than production and employment has been limited. The purpose of this research project is to investigate the benefits of urban agglomeration resulting from access to the consumption and amenities of urban residents. In this project, two studies will be carried out. The first is an analysis using the cellphone GPS trip data of city residents. By using the non-commuting trip behavior of urban residents, we build a model of trip behavior of residents in urban areas related to various sources of demand, such as shopping, and evaluate the welfare impact of work from home and consumption spillovers from large retail stores. The second is research on how land use regulations can be used to take advantage of urban agglomeration. Land use regulations have been introduced to reduce urban congestion, but they also have the effect of undermining agglomeration economies. The design of optimal land-use regulations requires accurate measurement of the costs and benefits of regulations. This study estimates the cost of land use regulations by examining the case of Fukuoka city which undertook a massive deregulation of its land use-regulations.
February 5, 2024 - July 31, 2026
（During the research project period, the research activity period is set from February 5, 2024 to January 31, 2026, and the data usage reporting period is set from February 1, 2026 to July 31, 2026.）
