Born in Yamaguchi prefecture (Japan) in 1943, Masahisa Fujita completed a BS in civil engineering at Kyoto University in 1966. Soon after, he went to the Department of Regional Science of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with his PhD in 1972. He then became a professor of regional science there. After two decades, he joined the faculty of the Institute of Economic Research of Kyoto University, where he remained until 2006. Fujita is the recipient of the 1983 Tord Palander Prize, the 1998 Walter Isard Award in Regional Science, and the First Alonso Prize awarded with Paul Krugman.

Out of more than 100 scientific books and articles, some major contributions emerge. The core of urban economics is the monocentric city model of which Fujita's ...