Mark Roberts
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mroberts10013.bsky.social
Mark Roberts
@mroberts10013.bsky.social

Lead Urban Economist & Global co-Lead for Urban & Spatial Economics, World Bank. Lover of cities & trying to improve as a runner. Living in Hanoi. https://sites.google.com/view/mark-roberts/home

Economics 81%
Environmental science 7%

And that’s it in terms of #running for 2025 for me! 1st full yr of tracking data - 174 training sessions, 1,470 km in total; 1 half-marathon, one 10 k race, & five 5 k. Not so much for many but my biggest year of running since restarting & probably 1996. Maybe next year I’ll start using Strava! 🙂🏃

Loving #running in New Zealand’s pleasant summer climate. Almost 13 km today - 6.3 km easy followed by lovely Queenstown #parkrun & extra 1.3 km to finish off

Nice 10 K Christmas Day run along some of Queenstown’s beautiful trails b4 the kids wake-up! Now for the festivities. Happy Christmas everyone! #running 🏃🎄🎁

Was fun participating in today’s Puarenga #parkrun in Rotorua, New Zealand. Finished 21st out of 282 overall (16th based on age grading; 2nd in VM50-54) in 21 min 50 sec. Interesting twisting course, inc thru some geothermal landscape! #running

Was great to take part in today’s Bishan Park #parkrun while visiting Singapore! Quite pleased as well with my 8th place overall finish in 21 min 40 sec. Thanks to the organisers & volunteers! #parkrun #running 🏃👟🎽

I’ll be in Singapore next week and I’m tempted to do a #parkrun there (especially because there’s no #parkrun in Hanoi, where I live), although I have some slight doubts because I’m also in middle of half-marathon training. Any advice from anyone who has done a #parkrun in Singapore?

Hope you recover soon, Daniel. I came down with shingles last year while on a work trip & then had to catch an international flight home - was likewise awesome

Eased back a bit on my #running last week to allow for some recovery as I continue to try to v slowly build 2 half-marathon fitness & felt so much better for it today!

Maybe it’s because I’m from the north of England, but I *love* #running in the rain (which doesn’t happen often in Hanoi!). 1st real tempo run as continue to build back training

Baby steps! 1st time running 5 km again as v gradually step-up training after suffering a calf strain early Feb. that feels like it has/is taking forever to recover from. Still some residual /referred pain, but feeling cautiously optimistic!Plus lovely running weather in DC today! #running

I’m definitely v far from being a “best runner”, but I do have a mental strategy of “congratulating” myself when I reach a put of fatigue in a race (normally around the three quarters mark), which I find helps me to relax

Thank you! And, yes, I can already see that!

Yay! Just completed my 1st ever #parkrun while visiting Washington DC! Now I know what I’ve been missing out on! Great to see the enthusiasm among runners of all ages. Also, my fastest 5 k (21 min
29 s) since resuming running 🙂 #running 🏃

I finally found the (in)famous zone 2 😂

CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI!

After 2 weeks of treadmill running due to dreadful air quality in Hanoi, was great to finally run outside again! My longest run (15.1 km) since starting running again around 2 years ago! Feeling v happy! 🙂🏃 #running #econ5k

Very much enjoyed & highly recommend this super-insightful “Brief History of Urban & Spatial Economics” over the last 50 years since the founding of the JUE by Henderson & Thisse, which also includes welcome discussion of developing country issues #urbanecon #econsky

Thanks for the shout-out @econ5k.bsky.social and for organising this! Great also to see the achievements of others! There are some v fast economists out there!

Reposted by Mark Roberts

!! 2025 ECON5k AWARDS !!

youtu.be/0miW6gUyek4
2025 ECON5k AWARDS CEREMONY
YouTube video by Daniel Bergstresser
youtu.be

Reposted by Mark Roberts

New in JUE: Urban and spatial economics after 50 years, by J. Vernon Henderson, Jacques-François Thisse. #econsky #urbanecon
Urban and spatial economics after 50 years
Publication date: November 2024 Source: Journal of Urban Economics, Volume 144 Author(s): J. Vernon Henderson, Jacques-François Thisse
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Mark Roberts

Last day to submit to the @worldbankgroup.bsky.social #Infra4dev conference in Guangzhou!
So submit your papers before Dec. 31: www.worldbank.org/en/events/20...

Last #run of yr & in scorching Trinidad b4 returning home 2 Hanoi. Thankful to have completed 1st full year of almost injury free running, with 8 races, in around 25 years :-) Hope to continue to grad build training, break 21 min for 5 k, 45 min for 10 k & maybe run a half marathon in 2025 #running

Hi everyone, I wanted to draw attention to the below expressions of interest to attend the World Bank’s annual Land Conference, which will take place in Washington DC, May 5th-8th 2025. Deadline is 15th Jan.

web.cvent.com/event/d800b9...
Summary - World Bank Land Conference 2025
web.cvent.com

Reposted by Mark Roberts

e) @thetahat.bsky.social, @ecmaeditors.bsky.social. Field experiment with GPS data in Bangalore indicates commuters have moderate schedule inflexibility and high value of time, suggesting limited benefits from peak-spreading congestion charges in developing country megacities t.ly/_A6L7
Peak-Hour Road Congestion Pricing: Experimental Evidence and Equilibrium Implications - The Econometric Society
t.ly

Reposted by Mark Roberts

These are 10 of my favourite #UrbanEconomics articles published in academic journals in 2024 (continues a tradition started in 2018, order is alphabetical by first author, no ranking implied):

Reposted by Mark Roberts

Reposted by Mark Roberts

Reposted by Mark Roberts

Zillow: a "silver tsunami" "wouldn't really move the needle in terms of solving our housing affordability crunch...These empty-nest households are concentrated in [already-]more affordable markets," not in the "job centers where young workers are moving." investors.zillowgroup.com/investors/ne...
A 'silver tsunami' won't solve housing affordability challenges
A "silver tsunami" — an expected flood of homes from older owners who will downsize or otherwise move on — has long been discussed as having the potential to relieve the nation's shortage of housing. ...
investors.zillowgroup.com