City Form, Economics and Culture

Associate Professor Pablo Guillen works at the School of Economics of the University of Sydney in Australia. He holds a PhD from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Business School. His research deals with experimental and behavioural economics, focusing on market design and bounded rationality. He is co-author of the book “La caja de memoria de Bogdan Bogdanovic” (with Ursa Komac).Ursa Komac is a Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design and Technology and the Director of Academic Programs in Architecture at the Western Sydney University. Her research deals with architecture and the city, with a focus on public space and heritage. She holds a PhD from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona. She published a book on Bogdan Bogdanovic (joint with Pablo Guillen). Recently she was a Visiting Research Fellow at Tokyo University of the Arts.

• Introduction.- Why cities exist?- Cities are more important than ever.- Public goods, externalities and the city.- Governing for the public good: the problem of city governance and planning.- Growth and shape of the pre-industrial city.- The raise of the rail-based mechanical city.- Motorisation and the city: America leads the world.- The Japanese experience: the raise of the minimal car use megalopolis.- Following America, not Japan: car dependent emerging megacities.- Motorisation and de-motorisation in Europe.- Conclusions.