Search results for ""author anthony downs""

This volume contains the most significant and still timely articles on urban economics, metropolitan and regional planning, real-estate economics and housing written by the noted urban economist Anthony Downs over the past four decades. The book has a new autobiographical introduction outlining Downs's extensive experience as a real estate and urban affairs consultant and policy analyst for hundreds of private firms and government bodies since 1959.The articles in this book set forth fundamental policy analyses concerning all of the major elements of urban policy. Written in Downs's exceptionally clear and compelling style they focus on the space-related dimensions of urban affairs, ranging from traffic congestion to telecommunications, education, and housing, with additional analyses of key aspects of real estate finance. Together, these essays form a veritable handbook of how to conduct urban policy analysis in many fields. The analysis and conclusions are directly relevant to the urban problems which are intensifying throughout the world today.This important book will be an essential companion to scholars and students of housing, urban planning, transport, regional science and real estate, it will also be useful to policymakers and government officials.

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This volume, together with a new original introduction, contains the most significant of Anthony Downs's essays written over the past four decades on politics and political theory. The articles address issues such as democracy, public choice theory, rational political decision making and political policy. As such this will be an ideal companion to his famous book An Economic Theory of Democracy. In this collection, Anthony Downs shows how a rational analyst can apply common sense and the lessons of practical experience to the most fundamental and difficult aspects of the political theory of democracy. Written in easily accessible language, Downs' analysis of political behaviour in a democracy and specifically the public choice view is applied to many aspects of democratic politics including cycles of political attention to specific issues, and the long term evolution of democracy.This book will prove invaluable to academics and students of politics, democracy, and public choice theory.

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Spanning four decades, this book of Buzz's essays chronicles the dynamic changes in real estate financing from the viewpoint of a practitioner and industry leader who was making real estate deals throughout the period.

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The environmental impacts of sprawling development have been well documented, but few comprehensive studies have examined its economic costs. In 1996, a team of experts undertook a multi-year study designed to provide quantitative measures of the costs and benefits of different forms of growth. Sprawl Costs presents a concise and readable summary of the results of that study. The authors analyze the extent of sprawl, define an alternative, more compact form of growth, project the magnitude and location of future growth, and compare what the total costs of those two forms of growth would be if each was applied throughout the nation. They analyze the likely effects of continued sprawl, consider policy options, and discuss examples of how more compact growth would compare with sprawl in particular regions. Finally, they evaluate whether compact growth is likely to produce the benefits claimed by its advocates. The book represents a comprehensive and objective analysis of the costs and benefits of different approaches to growth, and gives decisionmakers and others concerned with planning and land use realistic and useful data on the implications of various options and policies.

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