THE ECONOMY OF THE NEW-YORK METROPOLITAN REGION, THEN AND NOW

Four central ideas of critical importance in understanding the economies of large central cities in the US can be attributed to Ben Chinitz and other economists who had leading roles in the New York Metropolitan Region Study of 1956-59. Those central ideas are examined in the context in which they were developed-the New York region and the spatially-relevant aspects of the US economy at mid century. The paper considers how the ideas have fared in the light of the economic transformations since 1960, and what they offer to the analysis of prospective changes in the largest urban economies. The conclusion is that these ideas continue to offer powerful insights.