Are Smaller Cities More Sustainable? Environmental Externalities in Urban Areas. Evidences from Cities in São Paulo, Brazil
ABSTRACT
The objective of this essay is to explore the relationship between economics of agglomeration, city sizes and negative environmental externalities. Therefore, we contribute to illuminating the controversy on optimal city size, which has been much more concentrated on the reality of developed nations. We emphasize environmental dimensions related to this debate focusing on developing country urban agglomerations. In order to do so we test the hypothesis that smaller cities present better environmental quality indicators than bigger urban centers. Our tentative of rejecting this hypothesis was based upon data on more than 600 cities in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, including its capital city of Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world with more than 12 million inhabitants. We used cluster technique for a multivariable analysis with several environmental indicators—for water quality and for solid waste disposal and management—and an aggregated quality of life indicator very similar to the Human Development Indicator (HDI). Our results reject the hypothesis that smaller cities in a developing country reality are more environmentally sustainable than bigger cities.
The objective of this essay is to explore the relationship between economics of agglomeration, city sizes and negative environmental externalities. Therefore, we contribute to illuminating the controversy on optimal city size, which has been much more concentrated on the reality of developed nations. We emphasize environmental dimensions related to this debate focusing on developing country urban agglomerations. In order to do so we test the hypothesis that smaller cities present better environmental quality indicators than bigger urban centers. Our tentative of rejecting this hypothesis was based upon data on more than 600 cities in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, including its capital city of Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world with more than 12 million inhabitants. We used cluster technique for a multivariable analysis with several environmental indicators—for water quality and for solid waste disposal and management—and an aggregated quality of life indicator very similar to the Human Development Indicator (HDI). Our results reject the hypothesis that smaller cities in a developing country reality are more environmentally sustainable than bigger cities.
KEYWORDS
Environmental Externalities, City Sizes, Economics of Agglomeration, Environmental Economics
Environmental Externalities, City Sizes, Economics of Agglomeration, Environmental Economics
Cite this paper
Santiago, P. , Nogueira, J. and Conceição, P. (2014) Are Smaller Cities More Sustainable? Environmental Externalities in Urban Areas. Evidences from Cities in São Paulo, Brazil. Current Urban Studies, 2, 323-334. doi: 10.4236/cus.2014.24031.
Santiago, P. , Nogueira, J. and Conceição, P. (2014) Are Smaller Cities More Sustainable? Environmental Externalities in Urban Areas. Evidences from Cities in São Paulo, Brazil. Current Urban Studies, 2, 323-334. doi: 10.4236/cus.2014.24031.
References
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[1] Albuquerque, M. A. (2005). Estabilidade em análise de agrupamento (cluster analysis). Disserta??o apresentada à Univer- sidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco. Pernambuco. [2] Au, C.-C., & Henderson, J. V. (2006). Are Chinese Cities Too Small? Review of Economic Studies, 73, 549-576. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-937X.2006.00387.x [3] Banco Mundial (1992). Relatório sobre o Desenvolvimento Mundial 1992: Desenvolvimento e meio ambiente (1st ed.), Rio de Janeiro: Imprinta. [4] Banco Mundial (2009a). Cidades Verdes: Cidades e Mudan?as Climáticas no Brasil: Resultados Preliminares. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/BRAZILINPOREXTN/Resources/3817166-1279658706544/Lynch_CidadesMundancasClimaticas.pdf [5] Banco Mundial (2009b). Relatório sobre o Desenvolvimento Mundial 2009: A Geografia Econ?mica em Transforma??o. S?o Paulo: Editora Singular for the World Bank.. [6] Banister, D. (1999). Urban Sustainability. Chapter 38. In J. C. J. M. van den Bergh (Ed.), Handbook of Environmental and Resource Economics (pp. 560-568), UK and USA: Edward Elgar. [7] CETESB (2011a). áreas contaminadas 2011. http://www.cetesb.sp.gov.br/areas-contaminadas/rela%E7%F5es-de-%E1%A1reas-contaminadas/4-rac [8] CETESB (2011b). Inventário estadual de resíduos sólidos domiciliares 2010. S?o Paulo: CETESB, [9] CETESB (2011c).Qualidade das águas subterraneas no estado de S?o Paulo 2007-2009. S?o Paulo: CETESB, [10] CETESB (2011d).Qualidade do ar no estado de S?o Paulo 2010/ CETESB. S?o Paulo: CETESB, [11] Cluster Analysis, Capítulo 23. Autor n?o identificado. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/burns/website%20material/Chapter%2023%20%20Cluster%20Analysis.pdf [12] Fujita, M., & Thisse, J. F. (1996). Economics of Agglomeration. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 10, 339-378. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jjie.1996.0021 [13] Fujita, M., & Thisse, J. F. (2002). Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Regional Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805660 [14] Gaigné, C., Riou, S., & Thisse, J. F. (2011). Are Compact Cities Environmentally Friendly? CEPR Discussion Papers 8297, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [15] Glaeser, E. L. (2007). The Economics Approach to Cities. NBER Working Papers 13696, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [16] Glaeser, E. L., & Gyourko, J. (2007). Arbitrage in Housing Markets. NBER Working Papers 13704, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [17] Glaeser, E. L., Gyourko, J., & Saks, R. E. (2005). Why Have Housing Prices Gone up? American Economic Association, American Economic Review, 95, 329-333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/000282805774669961 [18] Governo do Estado de S?o Paulo (2012). http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br/ [19] Henderson, J. V. (1972). Optimum City Size: The External Diseconomy Question. Working Papers 91, Kingston: Queen’s University, Department of Economics. [20] Henderson, J. V. (1974). Sizes and Types of Cities. American Economic Review, 64, 640-656. [21] Himanen, V., Perrels, A., & Lee-Gosselin, M. (Eds.) (2005). Sustainability and the Interactions between External Effects of Transport. A Special Issue Section, Journal of Transport Geography, 1, 23-28. [22] Hotelling, H. (1929). Stability in Competition. Economic Journal, 39, 41-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2224214 [23] IBGE-Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2012). Estados. http://www.ibge.gov.br/estadosat/perfil.php?sigla=sp [24] Lampard, E. E. (1955). The History of Cities in the Economically Advanced Areas. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 3, 81-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/449680 [25] Linn, J. F. (1982). The Costs of Urbanization in Developing Countries. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 30, 625-648. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/452578 [26] Malhotra, N. K. (2006). Pesquisa de marketing: Uma orienta??o aplicada. Porto Alegre: Bookman Publisher. [27] Nijkamp, P. (1999). Environment and Regional Economics. In: J. C. J. M. van den Bergh (Ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics (Capítulo 35). Reino Unido e Estados Unidos: Edward Elgar. [28] Rosenthal, S. S., & Strange, W. C. (2001). The Determinants of Agglomeration. Journal of Urban Economics, 50, 191-229. [29] Rosenthal, S. S., & Strange, W. C. (2004). Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration. MIT Press, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 85, 377-393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/003465303765299882 [30] Thisse, F. (2002). Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics: Cities, Industrial Location and Geography. Edited by Henderson and Thisse, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [31] Thisse, J. F. (2011). Geografia econ?mica. In Economia Regional e Urbana: Teorias e métodos com ênfase no Brasil. Organizadores: Bruno de Oliveira Cruz ... [et al.]. Brasília: IPEA. [32] UN-Habitat (2005). United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Anual Report, 2005. Nairobi. [33] Verhoef, E. T., & Nijkamp, P. (2003). Externalities in the Urban Economy. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 03-078/3, Tinbergen Institute. [34] Vincini, L. (2005). Análise multivariada: da teoria à prática. Santa Maria: Monografia de Especializa??o. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - RS, Brazil. [35] Wheeler, C. H. (2002). Evidence on Agglomeration Economies, Diseconomies, and Growth. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 18, 79-104.