Methods for Spatial Economic and Demographic Analysis

Catalog description

This course presents quantitative methods for analyzing the contemporary space economy, nationally and internationally. It resides at the intersection of economics and geographic information science-namely, in the domains of planning and regional science, as interdisciplinary fields focused on socioeconomic phenomena having explicitly spatial and/or environmental dimensions. The overall approach is to learn a broad array of methods by applying them to key planning problems and questions, including: population forecasts, interregional migration; economic growth; housing markets, urban simulation, and more. The goals of the course are to understand methods of economic and demographic analysis, the assumptions they involve and how they are implemented. The course will provide opportunities for reflection on how these methods are applied and used to inform urban planning and the various policies that flow from it. In short, it engages with quantitative methods for spatial economic and demographic analysis that shape the evidence-base used in plans, policies, and related decision-making. The course is scientific in nature and, therefore, emphasizes the complementarity of positive analysis and normative thinking.