Location matters. Economic activities vary across space. Locations shape individuals' labor market opportunities, residential choices, schooling, and accessibility to consumption and services. For firms, locations determine the cost of inputs and outputs, the level of competition, accessibility to markets, local regulations and policies, and, thus, profits. The aggregation of individuals' and businesses' location decisions affects the size and performance of cities and regions.

This undergraduate course, designed for students with a basic understanding of microeconomics, introduces core ideas and models in urban economics, especially related to city formation, size, productivity, and housing prices. In this course, we will apply microeconomic concepts to understand the differences in economic activities across spaces. We will also investigate the role of cities and regions on aggregate economic development. Finally, we will discuss applications to related fields in economics, including labor economics, economics of race and discrimination, environmental economics, and other socioeconomic topics related to spaces.