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Walled cities and urban density in China
Author(s) -
Du Rui,
Zhang Junfu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
papers in regional science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.937
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1435-5957
pISSN - 1056-8190
DOI - 10.1111/pirs.12415
Subject(s) - china , geography , economic geography , compact city , population density , urban geography , population , urban planning , demography , archaeology , civil engineering , sociology , engineering
We analyse a sample of nearly 300 prefectural‐level cities in China, among which about half historically had city walls. We document that cities that had walls in late imperial China have higher population and employment density today, despite that their walls have long gone. Using data from various sources, we test whether a historically walled city's higher density can be explained by a historical urban core, a different industry composition, a different local geography, a compact urban shape, or more valuable rural land in surrounding areas. We find that historically walled cities still have higher density after taking into account all of these factors, which we interpret as evidence of economic persistence.