Techniques of urban economic analysis/ edited by Ralph W. Pfouts

During the inter-war period a theory of urban. growth and development that was named the eco nomic base theory arose and was accepted by city planners and administrators, urban geographers, Chamber of Commerce officials and other profes sional groups interested in urban development. This theory may be characterized briefly by saying that it divides urban economic activity into two categories: exporting industry that brings money into the com munity from the outside world and non-exporting industries whose goods and services are sold within the community. The exporting industries are re ferred to as basic industries and the non-exporting industries are called service industries. It is also contended in discussions of the theory that the ex porting or basic industries provide the sources of urban growth; they are "city building" industries.

The theory gained impetus during the decade of the thirties through the development of base-service ratios and other techniques for applying the theory to actual urban economics. These techniques paved the way for a large number of base studies in vari ous communities. Consequently the theory appeared to be established both as theory of urban growth and the source of valuable planning techniques. The purpose of this book is to present in an organized fashion some of the recent writings on the economics of urban development. As the foregoing remarks indicate, various viewpoints are presented but no ex cathedra decisions on the correctness of the viewpoints are offered. Speaking as an econo mist, rather than as editor of this book.