Why Cities Importantto Us?rLearningin citiesCitiesprovideopportunities for workersto learnHumancapital（人力资本）istheknowledgeand skills acquired by workers in formalschooling, work experience, and socialinteractions.Citiesprovidemore contacts withworkersperforming similar tasks, facilitating learning thatincreasesproductivity（生产率）
Why Cities Important to Us? Learning in cities Cities provide opportunities for workers to learn. Human capital（人力资本） is the knowledge and skills acquired by workers in formal schooling, work experience, and social interactions. Cities provide more contacts with workers performing similar tasks, facilitating learning that increases productivity（生产率）
Why Cities Important to Us?Trade and Productionin CitiesCities facilitate trade and commerce by providinga convenient gathering placefor buyers andsellersCities also serve as production centers becausethe production of many goods and services ismore efficient in a high-density urbanenvironment
Why Cities Important to Us? Trade and Production in Cities Cities facilitate trade and commerce by providing a convenient gathering place for buyers and sellers Cities also serve as production centers because the production of many goods and services is more efficient in a high-density urban environment
WhyCitiesImportant?ConsumptioninCitiesCities provide consumers witha wide variety of goodsandservicesIn general, the larger the city,the larger the number ofproductsitcansupportIn the last few decades inthe developed economies,cities with the greatest variety of certain consumergoodshavegrown most rapidly.In France and US, the most rapidly growing cities werethe ones with relatively large numbers of restaurants
Why Cities Important? Consumption in Cities Cities provide consumers with a wide variety of goods and services In general, the larger the city, the larger the number of products it can support In the last few decades in the developed economies, cities with the greatest variety of certain consumer goods have grown most rapidly. In France and US, the most rapidly growing cities were the ones with relatively large numbers of restaurants
WhyCities Exist?rCities exist because it is efficient to producesomegoodsona large scalerAn activityis subject toeconomiesof scale （规模经济）iftheaveragecostof productiondecreases when we scale up the operation andproduce more outputThewayto exploiteconomiesofscale is toconcentrate production at a small number of sitesIf there were no economies of scale,there wouldbe no cities
Why Cities Exist? Cities exist because it is efficient to produce some goods on a large scale. An activity is subject to economies of scale（规 模经济）if the average cost of production decreases when we scale up the operation and produce more output The way to exploit economies of scale is to concentrate production at a small number of sites. If there were no economies of scale, there would be no cities
ARegionwithoutCitiesConsider a region producing and consumingtwo goods: shirts and bread.rPeople useland to grow raw materials(wool from sheep and wheat)and take timeto transform the raw materials into shirtsand bread.rTravel within the region isby foot
A Region without Cities Consider a region producing and consuming two goods: shirts and bread. People use land to grow raw materials (wool from sheep and wheat) and take time to transform the raw materials into shirts and bread. Travel within the region is by foot