Ep 30: Skyscrapers with Gabriel Ahlfeldt

07/27/22 • 64 min

Skyscrapers! We can’t help but find them fascinating. Some cities are full of skyscrapers, and others have none. Developers built a 70-story tower on that parcel, but the proposed building just down the street is only 30 stories. How do developers decide where to build skyscrapers and how tall they should be? And are they really a profitable investment, or simply a monument to individual power and ego? Gabriel Ahlfeldt joins us from the London School of Economics to talk about his research on skyscrapers, a comprehensive analysis that catalogs nearly every 150-meter-plus building in the world. We discuss how skyscrapers influence the built form of cities, far beyond their typical boundaries within the central business district, and what the data can tell us about their profitability, their appeal to residents and workers, and the role that planners play in shaping where they’re found and how tall they go. Skyscrapers!

Show notes:

Ahlfeldt, G. M., & Barr, J. (2022). The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis. Journal of Urban Economics, 129, 103419.
Ahlfeldt, G. M., Redding, S. J., Sturm, D. M., & Wolf, N. (2015). The economics of density: Evidence from the Berlin Wall. Econometrica, 83(6), 2127-2189.
Cheshire, P. C., & Dericks, G. H. (2020). ‘Trophy Architects’ and Design as Rent‐seeking: Quantifying Deadweight Losses in a Tightly Regulated Office Market. Economica, 87(348), 1078-1104.
Ahlfeldt, G. M., & McMillen, D. P. (2018). Tall buildings and land values: Height and construction cost elasticities in Chicago, 1870–2010. Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(5), 861-875.
Barr, J. (2013). Skyscrapers and skylines: New York and Chicago, 1885–2007. Journal of Regional Science, 53(3), 369-391.

Show notes:

Ahlfeldt, G. M., & Barr, J. (2022). The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis. Journal of Urban Economics, 129, 103419.
Ahlfeldt, G. M., Redding, S. J., Sturm, D. M., & Wolf, N. (2015). The economics of density: Evidence from the Berlin Wall. Econometrica, 83(6), 2127-2189.
Cheshire, P. C., & Dericks, G. H. (2020). ‘Trophy Architects’ and Design as Rent‐seeking: Quantifying Deadweight Losses in a Tightly Regulated Office Market. Economica, 87(348), 1078-1104.
Ahlfeldt, G. M., & McMillen, D. P. (2018). Tall buildings and land values: Height and construction cost elasticities in Chicago, 1870–2010. Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(5), 861-875.
Barr, J. (2013). Skyscrapers and skylines: New York and Chicago, 1885–2007. Journal of Regional Science, 53(3), 369-391.

Previous Episode

Ep 29: Landlords, Discrimination, and Eviction with Eva Rosen and Philip Garboden

Landlords don’t have a great reputation. But despite the central role that landlords play in the housing market, there is surprisingly little research into how they operate. Eva Rosen and Philip Garboden interviewed more than 150 landlords in Baltimore, Dallas, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. in an effort to better understand the motivations behind their actions — in their own words. On the one hand, they see real problems with the actions of landlords. This includes frequent use of eviction threats and filings, reframing the landlord-tenant relationship into one of creditor-debtor, and application processes that seek to proactively identify “good” tenants — and which often violate fair housing laws, intentionally or not. They also see stark differences between small “mom-and-pop” and larger, more “professionalized” landlords, though perhaps not in the ways one might expect. On the other hand, they observe a system of housing provision that asks more than landlords can necessarily offer, while society as a whole shirks its responsibilities to many of those who need housing assistance. Eva and Philip join us to share their findings and discuss possible solutions.

Show notes:

Garboden, P. M., & Rosen, E. (2019). Serial filing: How landlords use the threat of eviction. City & Community, 18(2), 638-661.
Rosen, E., Garboden, P. M., & Cossyleon, J. E. (2021). Racial discrimination in housing: how landlords use algorithms and home visits to screen tenants. American Sociological Review, 86(5), 787-822.
Rosen, E., & Garboden, P. M. (2022). Landlord paternalism: Housing the poor with a velvet glove. Social Problems, 69(2), 470-491.
Report on evictions in Washington D.C., including a flow chart of the eviction process on page 10.
The Voucher Promise: A Book Talk with Eva Rosen. Hosted by the UCLA Lewis Center.
Leifheit, K. M., Linton, S. L., Raifman, J., Schwartz, G. L., Benfer, E. A., Zimmerman, F. J., & Pollack, C. E. (2021). Expiring eviction moratoriums and COVID-19 incidence and mortality. American journal of epidemiology, 190(12), 2503-2510.
Manville, M., Monkkonen, P., Lens, M., & Green, R. (2020). COVID-19 and renter distress: evidence from Los Angeles. UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.
Nelson, K., Garboden, P., McCabe, B. J., & Rosen, E. (2021). Evictions: The comparative analysis problem. Housing Policy Debate, 31(3-5), 696-716.
Lens, M.C., Nelson, K., Gromis, A., & Kuai, Y. (2020). The Neighborhood Context of Eviction in Southern California. City & Community, 19(4), 912-932.
Garboden, P. M., & Newman, S. (2012). Is preserving small, low-end rental housing feasible? Housing Policy Debate, 22(4), 507–526.
UCLA Housing Voice Episode 07: Residential Mobilization with Kristin Perkins.
UCLA Housing Voice Episode 12: Transit-Induced Displacement with Elizabeth Delmelle.

Next Episode

Ep 31: Inclusionary Zoning with Emily Hamilton

Cities have lived with exclusionary zoning for decades, if not generations. Is inclusionary zoning the answer? Inclusionary zoning, or IZ, requires developers to set aside a share of units in new buildings for low- or moderate-income households, seeking to increase the supply of affordable homes and integrate neighborhoods racially and socioeconomically. But how well does it accomplish these goals? This week we’re joined by the Mercatus Center’s Dr. Emily Hamilton to discuss her research on how IZ programs have impacted homebuilding and housing prices in the Washington, D.C. region, and the ironic reality that the success of inclusionary zoning relies on the continued existence of exclusionary zoning. Also, Shane and Mike rant about nexus studies.

Show notes:

Hamilton, E. (2021). Inclusionary zoning and housing market outcomes. Cityscape, 23(1), 161-194.
Manville, M., & Osman, T. (2017). Motivations for growth revolts: Discretion and pretext as sources of development conflict. City & Community, 16(1), 66-85.
Bento, A., Lowe, S., Knaap, G. J., & Chakraborty, A. (2009). Housing market effects of inclusionary zoning. Cityscape, 7-26.
Li, F., & Guo, Z. (2022). How Does an Expansion of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Affect Housing Supply? Evidence From London (UK). Journal of the American Planning Association, 88(1), 83-96.
Schleicher, D. (2012). City unplanning. Yale Law Journal, 7(122), 1670-1737.
Phillips, S. (2022). Building Up the" Zoning Buffer": Using Broad Upzones to Increase Housing Capacity Without Increasing Land Values. UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.
Background on the inclusionary zoning program in Los Angeles (struck down in court, but later enabled by the state legislature).
More on housing voucher policy in our interview with Rob Collinson.
More on minimum lot size reform in our interview with M. Nolan Gray.
A blog post questioning whether new market-rate housing actually “creates” demand for low-income housing.
Los Angeles Affordable Housing Linkage Fee nexus study.

UCLA Housing Voice - Ep 30: Skyscrapers with Gabriel Ahlfeldt

Transcript

Shane Phillips 0:04
Hello, this is the UCLA Housing Voice Podcast, I'm Shane Phillips. This episode we're joined by Gabriel Ahlfeldt at the London School of Economics to talk about skyscrapers, yes, skyscrapers. When urban planners are taught about how cities grow, they're really just given a two-dimensional model, usually one with a central business district where demand and rents, and density are highest, and a smooth decline as you move further out from the urban core. The third dimensi