Economics
Document Type
Article
Abstract
We analyse a sample of nearly 300 prefectural-level cities in China, among which about half historically had city walls. We document that cities that had walls in late imperial China have higher population and employment density today, despite that their walls have long gone. Using data from various sources, we test whether a historically walled city's higher density can be explained by a historical urban core, a different industry composition, a different local geography, a compact urban shape, or more valuable rural land in surrounding areas. We find that historically walled cities still have higher density after taking into account all of these factors, which we interpret as evidence of economic persistence.
Publication Title
Papers in Regional Science
Publication Date
6-2019
Volume
98
Issue
3
First Page
1517
Last Page
1539
ISSN
1056-8190
DOI
10.1111/pirs.12415
Keywords
China, city wall, persistence, urban density
Repository Citation
Du, Rui and Zhang, Junfu, "Walled cities and urban density in China" (2019). Economics. 28.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_economics/28
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Du, R., & Zhang, J. (2019). Walled cities and urban density in China. Papers in Regional Science, 98(3), 1517-1540. https://doi.org/10.1111/pirs.12415
