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This theoretical essay reflects on the conceptual underpinnings of research in the literature of urban shrinkage. It builds upon criticisms of the literature, mainly on the lack of urban theoretical reasoning, and it argues for a recalibration of both theoretical and empirical urban shrinkage literature based on advancements in the literature of planetary urbanization. Problems associated with the city-centric vision dominant within the literature of urban shrinkage or its usage mainly of demographic indicators, which also represent some of the common criticism employed within the planetary urbanization and critical urban theory, are debated for a reconsideration. Three propositions underpinned by theoretical and empirical developments in planetary urbanization are put forth: geohistorical contextualized urban shrinkage; urban shrinkage through moments of urbanization; multidimensional socio-spatial urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Farewell to Work? Essays on the World of Work's Metamorphoses and Centrality" by Ricardo Antunes, published in 2021, explores the question of whether the working class remains a valid category for Marxist analysis and social and political mobilization in the context of post-Fordist transformations. The book is divided into two parts, with the first addressing transformations in work during the 1970s and 1980s, and the second discussing more recent developments. Antunes critiques the rise of Toyotism and its impact on syndicalism, as well as the precarization of certain groups in the service and information sectors. Despite these transformations, Antunes argues that the working class is still a valid analytical category and that labor is fundamental to capitalism and human society. However, the book's structure has been criticized for its repetition and disjointedness. Overall, "Farewell to Work?" provides valuable insights into labor struggles in the current stage of global capitalism. [Extracted from the article]

Romania experienced a strong demographic decline during the three decades since the Revolution of 1989. However, this decline was not by all means geographically and historically invariable. Our paper focuses on a particular territorial subdivision of the country, namely the county of Sibiu, as a case study of a space that underwent rather a smaller decline and even experienced moments of growth. While we focus on the county scale, we also employ comparisons at other geographical scales. The analysis is developed around three main demographic aspects – total number of inhabitants, migration and indicators of natural growth. Our results display a demographic profi le of the county which is strongly contingent across geography and history in all three demographic aspects. The demographic decline in Romania was steady and rather consistent throughout the three decades. Indeed, Sibiu county experienced also a decline during the first two decades, but displayed a pattern of growth during the last decade, mostly explained through the economic aspects, as the county is one of the country’s most important growth poles. As showed in the paper, these evolutions were sustained by recent patterns of migration and natural population development in Sibiu that were more advantageous for population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the spatial dynamic of public hospital beds in Romania (1992-2018) in order to grasp the potentially uneven development of the health care infrastructure following state policies of austerity and cost reduction. The paper uses quantitative data and descriptive statistics to show the reduction of public hospital beds after 1990 in line with the state's health care reform aiming to decrease the use of hospital services and strengthen the role of alternative types of care. The results show that public hospital beds significantly decreased (approx. by 40%), mostly in smaller towns and rural areas. The main conclusion of the paper is that the neoliberal healthcare policies generated patterns of uneven spatial development. Public hospital beds were used in the paper as an indicator of public healthcare physical infrastructure, and across time they follow a pattern of clustering in more prosperous and more competitive areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores the electoral geographies in the city of Cluj-Napoca at parliamentary election between 1992-2016. Using spatial statistics, the electoral geographic patterns are analyzed at a global level (the entire city) and at a local level (neighborhoods). The longitudinal perspective is placed in a context of political, economic and social changes experienced by Cluj-Napoca during the two and a half decades. The results show stable and consistent patterns throughout the entire period. However, there are also significant geographic realignments and shifting patterns at a local level. The results also depict a strong correlation between the political, economic and social changes and the urban electoral geographies of Cluj-Napoca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]