Urbanization and low-carbon growth pathways : Modeling the interactions between energy and real estate prices
Abstract
This presentation proposes a framework for thinking the role of urban dynamics in the transition towards low-carbon societies. This task means representing the role of the spatial organization of the economy in long-term growth patterns and overcoming number of methodological issues: i) capturing the features of second- best worlds with imperfect foresight, inertia of capital stocks, market imperfections (underutilization of production factors); ii) representing structural change driving the decoupling between growth and energy beyond pure energy efficiency as a consequence of the interplay between consumption styles (preferences), technical potentials (resource and technology availability, asymptotes) and location patterns; iii) capturing the interplay between energy prices, land prices and the growth engine (productivity, demography, savings) in an opened economy; iv) endogenizing the urbanization process and location decisions in urban/rural areas.