Urbanization and Urban Governance with Ed Glaeser

Today’s guest is Ed Glaeser, a Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and he joins us to talk about urbanization and urban planning. Ed has written, or co-authored several books, including The Triumph of The City, and more recently, Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation, published this year with David Cutler. Our conversation begins on the subject of the rapid urbanization of parts of the developing world such as India and Sub-Saharan Africa. We explore what lessons can be learned in this regard from the urbanization of Latin America in the 1960s. Our exchange moves to touch on ways of urbanizing without industrialization or via services rather than manufacturing. Shifting onto the topic of urban governance, we hear Ed’s thoughts on the 15-minute city concept, how to overcome political constraints to construction such as vetocracy, and how to push back against cars when they stand as status symbols to the newly rich. We also get into why the schools in big US cities are failing and how to deal with the rising carbon emissions that come as developing countries urbanize. We then talk about COVID-related challenges to productivity and the supply chain, before wrapping up on the subject of whether charter cities are a way of experimenting with pro-entrepreneurship institutions. Key Points From This Episode: •   The lessons to be learned from Latin America’s urbanization regarding transport and more. •   Countries that have become urbanized without being industrialized. •   The connection between urbanization and moving out of poverty. •   Perspectives on manufacturing versus service-led paths toward transformation. •   Whether there is a distinction between urban migrants who arrive due to ‘pull’ versus ‘push’ factors. •   Ed’s thoughts on whether secondary cities can be as productive as primary ones. •   The contrast between entrepreneurship and poor living