Viewing urban spatial history from tall buildings

Micro-geographic data capturing the spatial distribution of economic activity within cities in history are difficult to access. This paper discusses how tall and durable buildings can be exploited as a source of “big data” to trace the history of the spatial structure of cities. To this end, we provide stylized evidence on how building heights correlate with land values over space and time within cities, review the related nascent literature, and suggest future research areas.