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The carbon ‘carprint’ of urbanization: New evidence from French cities

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  • Camille Blaudin de Thé

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Benjamin Carantino

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Miren Lafourcade

    (RITM - Réseaux Innovation Territoires et Mondialisation - Université Paris-Saclay, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

This paper investigates the causal impact of city shape on car use and emissions within French metropolitan areas. We in particular analyze the influence of a novel indicator of urban geometry that captures differences in the built environment likely to nurture or alleviate car dependence. Individual data allow us to separate the effects of urban geometry and households' spatial sorting, while historical and geological instruments help tackling ‘endogeneous density' issues. Cities with a more compact, fractal and diverse spatial layout have lower car emissions per household. Urban geometry drives a bell-shaped relationship between city size and the ‘carprint' of households: small cities compensate for their lack of Density or Diversity by an environmentally-friendly geometric Design, whereas medium cities exhibit heavier driving footprints.

Suggested Citation

  • Camille Blaudin de Thé & Benjamin Carantino & Miren Lafourcade, 2021. "The carbon ‘carprint’ of urbanization: New evidence from French cities," Post-Print halshs-03325816, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03325816
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103693
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    Cited by:

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    3. Carozzi, Felipe & Roth, Sefi, 2023. "Dirty density: air quality and the density of American cities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117385, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Air pollution; Urban transit; City shape; Driving; Sprawl;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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