Urban Agglomeration and Economic Growth

This is the flfth volume in the series of books emanating from the activities of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. The Foundation was established by Helmut Sohmen of Hong Kong in memory of his late brother, Egon Sohmen (1930-1977), who was an interna­ tional economist, highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. The conference topics in previous years were ''Towards a Mar­ ket Economy in Central and Eastern Europe," "Money, Trade, and Competition," "Economic Progress and Environmental Con­ cerns," and "Economic Aspects of International Migration." These are also the titles of the respective conference volumes (edited by Herbert Giersch and published by Springer). The topic of the 1993 conference evolved from a suggestion made by Regine Sohmen, Egon's widow, who reported about her husband's increasing interest in urban economics during the 19708, when he was teaching at the University of Heidelberg and became concerned with the romantic town's congestion problem. The idea struck me as important also from the angle of trade and economic growth that had attracted Egon Sohmen's interest in the 1960s, notably when we were both lecturing at the University ofthe Saar. This angle can be briefly described as follows.