“规模借用”是几个欧洲国家新出现的政策概念，它提供了解释当代城市动态的理论潜力，这些动 态是强调集聚经济作用的传统城市增长理论无法解决的。在Alonso最初提出的概念中，这个概念描 述并解释了这样一种情况，即位于较大的“超大城市群”中的小城市确实表现得更好，因为它们可 以获得较大邻近城市的集聚效益。本文审视规模借用的概念，因此着重于其概念化并回顾其迄今为 止的经验证明。我们的实证分析表明，必须在规模和范围方面扩展这一概念，以提高其政策价值。当城市拥有通常与较大城市相关的城市功能和/或绩效水平时，就会出现规模借用。这是通过跨多 个空间尺度的城市网络中的互动来实现的。这些网络可以替代集聚的好处。从理论上讲，规模借用 概念要求重新构建集聚理论的地理基础。 ... Read more

Despite the many negative aspects of life in cities, urban promises of economic prosperity, freedom and happiness have fuelled the imagination of generations of migrants, who have flocked to cities in search of a better life, invariably exaggerating the opportunities and neglected the potential disadvantages of their choice. This paper uses insights from psychological literature to better understand why people have such strong, positive and apparently overrated expectations about cities. We dwell into concepts of bounded rationality to describe the cognitive biases and heuristics affecting decision-making under uncertainty and apply them to the way individuals perceive and act upon the promises of urban life. By linking this literature to urban theory, we can better understand how individuals make their decisions about moving to and living in cities. We thereby offer an understanding of urbanisation and migration processes departing from economic rationality assumptions and explain the remarkable attractive force of cities throughout human history. Finally, we discuss the ways in which human biases in favour of city narratives and bright urban futures can be exploited by ‘triumphalist’ accounts of cities in policy and media, which neglect the embedded injustices and structural problems of urban life. ... Read more

‘Borrowed size’ is an emerging policy concept in several European countries, presenting theoretical potential to explain contemporary urban dynamics unaddressed through conventional urban growth theories that emphasise the role of agglomeration economies. In its original conceptualisation by Alonso, the concept describes and explains the situation that especially smaller cities that are located in a larger ‘megapolitan complex’ do perform better because they have access to agglomeration benefits of larger neighbouring cities. This paper scrutinises the concept of borrowed size, thereby focusing on its conceptualisation and reviewing its empirical justification thus far. Our empirical analyses show that the concept must be stretched in terms of scale and scope to enhance its policy value. Borrowed size occurs when a city possesses urban functions and/or performance levels normally associated with larger cities. This is enabled through interactions in networks of cities across multiple spatial scales. These networks serve as a substitute for the benefits of agglomeration. Theoretically, the borrowed size concept demands a recasting of the geographical foundations of agglomeration theory. ... Read more

This paper introduces the theme of the special issue 'Agglomerations and the Rise of Urban Network Externalities'. Urban network externalities are defined as external economies from which firms and households can benefit by being located in agglomerations that are well embedded in networks that connect with other agglomerations. The contributions focus on the conceptualization of urban network externalities and their influence on urban performance. Finally, a research agenda is presented, that should focus on multiplexity and heterogeneity in networks and their impacts; interrelations between agglomerations and networks and their dynamic and place-based nature; and, the policy implications of urban network externalities. ... Read more