Land Price Fluctuations, Commercial-Residential Segregation, and Gentrification

Xu, Hangtian (2020): Land Price Fluctuations, Commercial-Residential Segregation, and Gentrification.

Abstract

By examining the impact of a real estate bubble on residential distribution in Tokyo and Osaka, we show that land price fluctuations influence the residential location choice within a metropolitan area. During a period of rising land prices, land developers favor commercial development over residential use in the central city, thereby increasing the daytime population while decreasing the residential population there. Thus, commercial-residential segregation is intensified. In a downturn period, however, with the shrinking demand for commercial space, homes are favored by land developers. Hence, gentrification occurs as an unintended consequence of this endogenous conversion of the land-use pattern.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: gentrification; real estate bubble; land-use pattern; housing policy
• Subjects: R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R23 - Regional Migration ; Regional Labor Markets ; Population ; Neighborhood Characteristics; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R3 - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location > R31 - Housing Supply and Markets

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