ABSTRACT
This chapter provides evidence on the role of local characteristics that influence net urban location benefits, irrespective of the size of cities, by presenting two empirical analyses developed by the research group of the two authors. The declining rate of urban population growth recorded in the last decade in most developing countries appears to be common to all cities, independently of physical size, and represents a general slowing down, rather than a specific crisis in the larger cities. In 1961, Chinitz expressed some doubts about the fact that urban factor productivity depends mainly on the physical size of cities. The difference among cities in terms of urban functions was brought to the fore by Richardson in the 1970s, and formalised in a supply-oriented dynamic model (SOUDY). The joint application of the SOUDY model and the city-network paradigm has relevant implications for urban efficiency and growth: size is not the only determinant of factor productivity and agglomeration economies.
