The competitive city: The impact of transport and land policy on Japan's economic growth and development

The Competitive City argues that urban structure can affect national competitiveness, and has played an important role in the competitiveness of Japan's economy. It first demonstrates how questions of urban structure relate to economic growth theory. It then uses data from Japan and the U.S. to demonstrate how differences in urban structure and transport systems have affected investment levels and production costs in the two countries. It then demonstrates how the growth impacts of different policies affecting urban structure depend on the position of the country in the global economy.;Japan's urban history is then reviewed in order to identify the key historical reasons for differences with between Japanese and U.S. urban structure. Finally, it reviews the recent privatization of Japan National Railroad and the increasing emergence of 'Third Sector' companies. It argues that privatization has been used to raise funds to increase public investment in order to stimulate growth, and represents a new form of Keynesianism. It concludes by outlining the growth implications of different urban policy options for developing countries and the U.S.