Urban spatial structure, suburbanization and transportation in Barcelona

Abstract

I investigate the effect of transportation improvements on changes in population location patterns in Barcelona between 1991 and 2006. At a much finer geographical scale, I verify and extend the finding of Baum-Snow (2007a) that transportation cause suburbanization: highway and railroad improvements foster population growth in suburban areas, whereas the transit system also affects the location of population inside the CBD. To estimate the causal relationship between the growth of population (density) and transportation improvements, I rely on an instrumental variables estimation which uses distances to the nearest Roman road, the nearest 19th century main road, and the nearest 19th century railroad network as instruments for the 2001-1991 changes in distance to the nearest highway ramp and the distance to the nearest railroad station.