Search

Numerous shrinking cities have emerged in the new development stage of China, and the authorities have tried to adopt the policy pool of abolishing counties and establishing districts to alleviate urban shrinkage. This study uses urban nighttime light data from 2010 to 2017 to determine whether the policy is effective in a Difference-in-Difference model framework. We find that China's urban shrinkage shows a shrinkage–expansion cycle, and the policy of removing counties and establishing districts has a significant effect on the population of the counties, which indicates that the policy can ease urban shrinkage. Specifically, the positive effect is stronger for counties belonging to cities with higher administrative rank, and for cities located in the East region and Southwest region. Our study has great practical implications for the governance of shrinking cities and promoting sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how local actors in Buffalo and Cleveland mobilized through garden tourism as a form of alternative urbanism to rehabilitate heavily stigmatized places and remake their city's reputations. Buidling off the concepts of civic action and scene styles, I compare how grassroots actors in Buffalo mobilized through a symbolic purity scene style to deracialize urban stigmas to how grassroots actors in Cleveland mobilized through a diversity scene style to create an inclusive place reputation that addressed the city's internal racial and ethnic divsions. I found that in the process of rehabbing their communities, grassroots actors in both cities replaced racialized urban stigmas with a different form of Whiteness, and when residents and elites shared the same scene style, they were more likely to cooperate, which entrenched the garden tour with local elites and other organizations in the cultural tourism field. Cultural variables like a place's reputation matter in how and what kind of Rust Belt city will emerge from the era of urban shrinkage. Data for this article comes from 50 semistructured in-depth interviews, fieldwork, and archival data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the interplay between governance priorities concerning urban shrinkage and the circular economy (CE) agenda in the cases of Parkstad Limburg (NL) and Satakunta (FI), aiming to assess the potential of European circular imaginaries for creating novel development pathways in shrinking cities and regions. The findings reveal that the CE agenda emerges within specific sectors due to various influences, including European institutional frameworks, national policies and local initiatives. Notably, the advocacy of commercial actors plays an instrumental role in advancing the CE concept into policy. However, both regions also demonstrate differences arising from distinct regional characteristics. Satakunta harnesses its manufacturing legacy to pursue economic and demographic growth through an industrial CE. Meanwhile, Parkstad Limburg prioritises circular construction to facilitate spatial restructuring and secure public funding. Therefore, in shrinking contexts, CE operates as a unifying agenda for existing interests, upholding prevailing political priorities rather than opening novel governance avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental effects of urban shrinkage have gradually attracted academic attention. Based on spatial effects and EKC perspectives, this study constructs an environmental impact assessment framework and examines the impact of urban shrinkage on the concentration of lung-accessible particulate matter at the county level in China from 2013 to 2020. The results show that, from a two-dimensional perspective in space and time, lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations show a decreasing trend in the time series and an obvious autocorrelation feature in space. Urban shrinkage can affect lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations through spatial effects. Through direct effects, urban shrinkage promotes the increase of lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations. Through spillover effects, urban shrinkage suppresses the growth of lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations. The effect of urban shrinkage on lung-accessible particulate matter concentration is nonlinear (EKC). This may be the result of the "siphon effect." Furthermore, in the extended STIRPAT model, it was found that population and economic and technological factors differentially affect lung-accessible particulate matter concentrations in shrinking cities. This study gives a new idea and insight into the changes in environmental pollution in shrinking cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the sustainable development of urban and regional public transport systems is one of the major challenges faced by public authorities. This article examines changes over more than two decades in the two key synthetic measures for balancing transport: urban and regional public transport and individual motorization in two neighbouring EU countries, Poland, and Slovakia. The findings reveal the low effectiveness of transport sustainability policies, particularly in Poland, as evidenced by a decline in public transport usage and a significant increase in the number of private cars. Comparing the two countries Slovakia's policies proved more effective, showing lower increases in the number of private vehicles and only a slight decline in the volume of urban public transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Urban contraction brings about certain impacts on the advancement of urbanization. Methods: This paper explores the coupling coordination (CCD) and geographical distribution of land urbanization (LU) and population urbanization (PU) in Jiangsu Province through a CCD model and a spatial autocorrelation model from the perspective of shrinking cities. The Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model is constructed to deeply investigate the complex interaction between the PU-LU in 13 cities, 2007-2020. Results: The study found that the PU-LU CCD in each of the above-mentioned cities shows a synergistic incremental evolution during the study period in terms of time series. In addition, in terms of spatial characteristics, the CCD of PU and LU shows significant positive global spatial autocorrelation, and the CCD of cities with high population size growth is much larger than that of cities with continuous population size. Last, there is an interactive response relationship between PU and LU. PU influences LU, however, PU itself is influenced by its own system's internal structure. The impact of PU on LU shows a positive cumulative effect of the "inverted U shape." Discussion: Furthermore, this paper proposes that policies be created to ensure the coordinated growth of PU-LU based on the differences in resource endowments of cities with 3 types of urban shrinkage. The link between floating population and construction land for cities should be established through enhancing the extent of intensive land use and reforming household registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many developing countries have experienced or are experiencing periods of rapid urbanization, and the sustainable development of resource-based cities has increasingly come under the spotlight. The extensive mining of resources, which once propelled the economic growth of these cities, has enabled the continuous construction of more urban districts. However, as these new districts become favored, the old districts in these cities tend to be overlooked. This neglect becomes particularly pronounced once the resources start to dwindle, with older districts, which lack contemporary facilities, declining over time. Dongsheng District, in China's Ordos City, is a prime example of this phenomenon. In this study, we took Dongsheng District as the research subject to explore the urban renewal potential of old urban areas in resource-based cities in developing countries. First, we constructed an assessment system for evaluating the urban renewal potential of old urban areas in resource-based cities in developing countries. Using ArcGIS, we conducted a quantitative evaluation of the spatial distribution of urban renewal potential indicators in the assessment system. Second, we conducted a comparative analysis by juxtaposing the spatial distribution of urban renewal potential derived from the assessment system with the current land use and historical development of the study area to explore potential correlations. Third, we propose the distribution of urban renewal potential in old urban areas of resource-based cities in developing countries by discussing the research results. The research found that in relation to current land use, residential and commercial service areas are more likely to form high-potential plots. Urban villages are often considered to have high potential for urban renewal, but in these urban areas, they do not always exhibit significant urban renewal potential. Regarding the relationship with historical development, urban renewal potential generally shows a negative correlation with historical development, and most other specific indicators of urban renewal also show a correlation with historical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban vibrancy emerges from the complex interplay between individuals and public spaces. Recognizing the importance of capturing people's experience and perception of streetscape and network configurations, this study investigates the relationship between human-scale street design and urban vibrancy in four Chinese metropolises: Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi'an, and Shenyang. Using a bottom-up metric framework with street view images and spatial design network analysis, this study assesses human-scale street design across five dimensions: reachability, betweenness, detours, aesthetics, and disorder. Multiscale geographically weighted regression is employed to examine how these design metrics spatially affect urban vibrancy during daytime and nighttime. The findings reveal the efficacy of enhancing street closeness and optimizing green spaces in promoting urban vibrancy. It further identifies mitigating strategies for reversing declines in urban vibrancy, such as addressing physical disorder and reducing street network severance. Additional analysis using a geographical detector explores the interactive effects of these elements, emphasizing the necessity of a comprehensive approach to urban planning. The comparative analysis across multiple cities amplifies the generalizability of the findings, offering actionable insights for adaptable, vibrancy-oriented urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inner core of Sombor, known as "Venac", is probably the best-preserved one among medium-sized cities in Serbia. The stagnation of Sombor during the 20th century and its urban shrinkage in the 21st century have prevented significant transformations of the core, enabling its preservation under state protection as an urban heritage site. However, the recent rise of cultural tourism has triggered urban regeneration. As the city is still unprepared for this change, this regeneration has mostly omitted the inner core. Realising this, local representatives and experts have started rethinking innovative approaches to its regeneration, including the concept of Albergo Diffuso. This sustainable concept is created to revive the historic cores of small, shrinking cities and towns. Basically, it represents a hotel situated in several old buildings dispersed throughout a historic urban fabric, fitting perfectly into the regeneration of Venac. However, the current lack of precise spatial indicators and thresholds makes their incorporation into the planning process challenging. Considering this, this study focuses on the current spatial development of tourism in Venac, analysing the elements that would support and facilitate the application of this concept in the future. This article also proposes a set of new planning measures to support a strategically organised approach—from the emphasis on urban reuse and physical renewal to multileveled linking of basic concept conditions to the prioritization of pedestrian-friendly places and the application of innovative urban design in open public spaces. By connecting the selected Albergo Diffuso approach with spatial development and its analysis, this study also contributes to the spatial imprint of the concept's implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Forest fragmentation and urban shrinkage have become the focus of attention in global ecological conservation, with the goal of achieving sustainable development. However, few studies have been concerned with urban forest patterns in shrinking cities. It is necessary to explore whether the loss of the population will mitigate urban forest degradation. Thus, in this study, 195 shrinking cities were identified based on demographic datasets to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of urban forests in China against a depopulation background. To illustrate the explicit spatial evolution of urban forests in shrinking cities in China, in this study, we reclassified land-use products and determined the annual spatial variations from 2000 to 2022 using area-weighted centroids and landscape pattern indexes. The effects of different climatic and topographical conditions on the spatiotemporal variations in the urban forest patterns against population shrinkage were discussed. The results demonstrated that the forest coverage rate in the shrinking cities of China increased from 40.05 to 40.47% with a generally southwestern orientation, and the most frequent decrease appeared from 2010 to 2015. Except for the temperate humid and sub-humid Northeast China, with plains and hills, all geographical sub-regions of the shrinking cities exhibited growing urban forests. Relatively stable movement direction dynamics and dramatic area changes in climatic sub-regions with large forest coverage were observed. The urban forest centroids of shrinking cities at a lower elevation exhibited more fluctuating changes in direction. The urban forests in the shrinking cities of China were slightly fragmented, and this weakened condition was identified via the decelerating fragmentation. The urban forests of the shrinking cities in the warm-temperate, humid, and sub-humid North China and basin regions exhibited the most pattern variations. Therefore, it is emphasized that the monitoring of policy implementation is essential due to the time lag of national policies in shrinking cities, especially within humid and low-altitude regions. This research concludes that the mitigation of urban deforestation in the shrinking cities of China is greatly varied according to moisture and altitude and sheds light on the effects of the population density from a new perspective, providing support for urban forest management and improvements in the quality of residents' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization is universally acknowledged to degrade ecosystem services, posing significant threats to human well-being. However, the effects of urban shrinkage, a global phenomenon and a counterpart to urbanization, on ecosystem services (ESs) remain unclear. This study focuses on China's Rust Belt during the period from 2000 to 2020, constructing a comprehensive analytical framework based on long-term remote sensing data to reveal the temporal and spatial patterns of ESs and their associations with cities experiencing varying degrees of shrinkage. It employs a random forest (RF) model and a Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) model to measure and visualize the significance and thresholds of socioeconomic factors influencing changes in ESs. Our findings highlight the following: (1) Since 2010, the three provinces of Northeast China (TPNC) have begun to shrink comprehensively, with the degree of shrinkage intensifying over time. Resource-based cities have all experienced contraction. (2) Regional urban shrinkage has been found to enhance the overall provision capacity of ESs, with the most significant improvements in cities undergoing continuous shrinkage. (3) The impact of the same socioeconomic drivers varies across cities with different levels of shrinkage; increasing green-space ratios and investing more in public welfare have been identified as effective measures to enhance ESs. (4) Threshold analysis indicates that the stability of the tertiary sector's proportion is critically important for enhancing ESs in cities undergoing intermittent shrinkage. An increase of 10% to 15% in this sector can allow continuously shrinking cities to balance urban development with ecological improvements. This research highlights the positive aspects of urban shrinkage, demonstrating its ability to enhance the provision capacity of ESs. It offers new insights into the protection and management of regional ecosystems and the urban transformation of the three eastern provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how tech professionals commuting to neighbourhoods redeveloped for their work are contributing to their transformation into urban tech campuses: gentrified districts where landscapes, understandings of place and temporalities are shaped by their praise of innovation, emotional detachment from place, and daily ebb and flow. While also resulting in displacement, othering, and the rewriting of histories and geographies, commuters' contribution to tech-led gentrification contrasts with the emotional investment into place and the sense of permanence gentrifiers use in established residential neighbourhoods they perceive as authentic and progressively remake in their image. While concomitant, it also differs from residential new-build gentrification, as it reinforces not only middle-class norms but also the economic discourse of the high-tech industry, which co-produces these places as elite worker oases. Using South Lake Union, Seattle, WA as a case study, this article aims to contribute to a social understanding of tech-led gentrification: while recent research has focused on residential gentrifiers and on the macro political and economic forces that transform declining urban areas into so-called innovation districts, this qualitative study explores gentrification through the narratives and uses of public space of an urban tech campus's dominant population – an elite, predominantly young, white, male commuter workforce several times larger than the local residential population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to carry out accurate identification of urban shrinkage and comparative analysis of its influencing factors in large national regions, to reduce the error based on administrative area identification. By constructing the VANUI index, calculating the one-dimensional linear regression coefficient of the DN value of night light and the WorldPop population grid data, and based on the overlay of the regression coefficient of the DN value of night light, and the regression coefficient of the WorldPop population grid data, the urban areas of East Germany and Northeast China in the two stages of 2000-2009 and 2010-2018 were divided into four types: absolute growth, smart shrinkage, negative growth and absolute shrinkage. This pa‐ per then studied and compared the spatio-temporal distribution and transformation path of the two stages of absolute shrinkage and smart shrinkage in the two regions, and constructed a panel regression model from population growth, scientific and technological development level, medical service level and other aspects to conduct a comparative analysis of the influencing factors of the two stages of urban shrinkage in the two regions. The results show that the absolute shrink‐ age areas in the two regions have a great similarity in spatiotemporal distribution and transformation path; the smart shrinkage areas are similar in spatiotemporal distribution, but different in transformation path; the absolute shrinkage areas in the two regions and two stages is relatively small; the mechanism of population growth in the two regions has both similarities and differences, and has different connotations due to differences in national conditions. This study shows that: (1)Urban shrinkage areas have the potential for short-term growth, and their development rights should be treated equally; (2)The absolute shrinking areas should be given special attention and governance, while the smart shrinking areas should be regarded as a reasonable development model for urban shrinking areas; (3)Continuously improving the level of medical, elderly care services and research investment, steadily promoting the transformation of living environment and infrastructure in existing areas, and reasonably controlling incremental development can help alleviate the phenomenon of urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinkage-induced cracking is a common issue in concrete structures, where the formation of cracks not only affects the aesthetic appearance of concrete but also potentially reduces its durability and strength. In this study, the effect of ceramsite sand addition on the properties of a ternary system of cement-ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)-phosphogypsum (PG) is investigated. In particular, the fluidity, rheology, hydration heat, compressive strength, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage of the considered mortar specimens are analyzed. The results indicate that an increase in PG content leads to a decrease in fluidity, higher viscosity, lower exothermic peak, and lower compressive strength. However, the shrinkage of the mortar specimens is effectively compensated. The incorporation of internal curing water from ceramsite sand improves fluidity, decreases both yield stress and viscosity, enhances the degree of hydration, and induces mortar expansion. However, the inferior mechanical properties of the ceramsite sand generally produce a decrease in the compressive strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue d'Économie Régionale & urbaine is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Questions of responsibility for future‐making often arise in localities where the withdrawal of capital and state seem to leave tangible voids and a sense of loss. Over the past decade, academic discourse has furthered discussions on the role of civic engagement, local initiatives and their agency under conditions of urban shrinkage. However, scholars (including ourselves) are confronted with their own normative assumptions and aspirations when conceptualizing local initiatives in shrinking cities. Through reviewing the literature on this phenomenon, we identified three main epistemological pitfalls that emerge from the legacies of planning discipline, current neoliberal developments and scholars’ own biases. By drawing from our fieldwork experiences, we conclude that local initiatives should be viewed in the plurality of their essences as extremely variegated in form and motivation. We therefore assert the need to disentangle research on local initiatives in shrinking cities from normative aspirations to avoid neoliberal responsibilization, and instead pay attention to the nuances of their aims and practices, achievements and constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we suggest a new analysis of the decline and abandonment of medieval urban landscapes, using as a case study the thoroughly excavated and documented Caelian Hill in Rome during the eleventh century, supported by notions from modern studies of climate change. We provide evidence for the concurrent decline of the urban landscape and the abandonment of waterways, including the aqueduct of Aqua Claudia that functioned since the first-century CE and was last recorded as functioning ca. 1006 CE. We further point to the implications of these processes on changes in the urban fabric in other areas of the city, challenging previous studies which associate its decline with political and economic circumstances culminating in the Norman sack of 1084. We suggest that these processes should be attributed to the effects of the regional climatic disturbances that affected Central-Southern Italy during the medieval climate anomaly (MCA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban redundancy, often observed in the core areas of cities, poses significant challenges to sustainable development and urban vitality. This study addresses urban redundancy by proposing a quantitative framework to both identify and mitigate its effects, using Ashram Road in Ahmedabad, India, as a case study. The research employs a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis (MCDMA) based on data collected through physical surveys and literature reviews. This analysis integrates approaches such as redevelopment, adaptive reuse, policy interventions, and economic strategies to counter redundancy effectively. The findings highlight that Ashram Road's core area, despite its historical and cultural significance, faces challenges like poor maintenance, high vacancy rates, and inadequate utilization of the available floor space index (FSI). The proposed framework aims to develop context-sensitive strategies that uphold the intrinsic value of core urban areas while promoting sustainable regeneration. The study demonstrates the need for a balanced approach that combines modern development with preservation, providing insights for urban policy-making that enhances the resilience and longevity of city cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological practice grapples with several kinds of dissonance in and of Chicago: the current municipally mandated commissions charged with responding to and reevaluating the commemorative landscape; the amateur, academic, private, and state archaeological apparatus that oversees what, if any, archaeological research is undertaken and reported; and the desires of people in Chicago for an understanding of the city that goes beyond the veneration of great architects and architecture. Archaeological work at Chicago's Mecca Flats (built 1892) is a case study for potential ways to subvert forms of urban dissonance. The Mecca was a modern apartment prototype, a hotel for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, a majority-white- then majority-Black-tenancy building, a social center of the 1920s Black Metropolis, and a symbol of urban blight demolished to expand the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2018, archaeological research joined the more commonplace architectural veneration to uncover this material legacy of urban renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Iluminuras is the property of Revista Iluminuras and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the context of ongoing global urbanization, the disparity in urban development, marked by the dual phenomena of urban sprawl and urban shrinkage at the regional level, has become increasingly evident. In this vein, two land-related governance strategies—smart growth (SG) and smart shrinkage (SS)—emerge as potential remedies to these challenges, targeting urban expansion and shrinkage, respectively. This study bridges the gap in the fragmented discourse surrounding SG and SS by conducting a comprehensive comparative review on the respective literatures. Utilizing the Scopus database, our research employs trend analysis, text and topic mining, time node analysis, and regional analysis, augmented by qualitative reviews of seminal papers. The findings reveal a notable shift in research focus, with interest in SS surging around 2010 (the number of SS-related papers published after 2010 accounts for 92.3% of the total number of the entire study period) as attention to SG waned, suggesting an impending paradigm shift in urban sustainability. The analysis indicates that SS research lacks the disciplinary diversity, thematic breadth, and empirical depth of SG studies, underscoring a need for a more robust theoretical foundation to support urban sustainability. Furthermore, while both SG and SS derive from environmental science foundations, SG predominantly addresses the physical and landscape attributes of urban areas, whereas SS focuses more on socio-economic dimensions. Our findings point to an intrinsic link between SG and SS, which could lay the groundwork for their integration into a unified theoretical framework to better advance urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emission issues are becoming increasingly severe, and the carbon emissions in shrinking cities, primarily characterized by population loss, are often overlooked and insufficiently studied. This paper focuses on the carbon emissions from county-level administrative units in China's three northeastern provinces from 2001 to 2017. The study scientifically identified shrinking cities and measured the differences in carbon emission characteristics between growing and shrinking cities using the Theil index. Ultimately, the paper constructs a panel spatial econometric model to analyze the factors influencing them and explore their spatial effects. (1) The total carbon emissions in the Three Northeastern Provinces exhibited an inverted U-shaped trend, increasing from 734.21 million tons in 2001 to 1731.73 million tons in 2017, with the Mann–Kendall trend test showing a significant increase; spatially, this manifests as a significant positive spatial autocorrelation. (2) The region has 138 shrinking cities, accounting for over 50%; regarding carbon emission characteristics, the Theil index has consistently remained above 0.18, indicating significant differences between the carbon emissions of growing and shrinking cities. (3) The panel spatial econometric model results show that the influencing factors of carbon emissions in shrinking cities have unique directions, intensities, and spatial effects. In shrinking cities, aside from localized GDP effects and per-capita GDP acting as a suppressant, the population size has a pronounced inhibitory effect on local and surrounding carbon emissions. The analysis reveals significant differences in the carbon emission patterns and mechanisms between growing and shrinking cities; based on these results, the paper proposes differentiated carbon control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-production often appears as a virtue in academic research and planning practice, particularly in shrinking cities, which struggle to develop effective policies and provide sufficient level of public services. In this paper, we argue that the urban shrinkage context imposes significant limitations to co-production practices, that we urge should not be neglected. Drawing on three contrasting projects in Riga (Latvia), Nevers (France), and Heerlen (the Netherlands), we explore existing limitations and consider possibilities to overcome them. The analyses show that the efficacy of co-production practices is impaired due to a reduced level of trust towards public authorities; selective outmigration; weakened social capital; and political prioritizing of private sector interests over civil society. To overcome these, we discuss the role of several tools, namely mediating actors, independent funding, civic empowerment, and the willingness of public authorities to regenerate power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese cities have experienced population decline, impacting the urban economy, public services, and paid use of state-owned land (PUL). This paper employs a coupled coordination degree model and the gray correlation coefficient method to examine the relationship between the rate of population change from 1990 to 2020, the rate of PUL change from 2000 to 2020, and the coupled coordination of economy and public services. The study arrives at several conclusions: (1) Cities with declining populations exhibit a lower PUL rate than those without population shrinkage, indicating reduced activity in the land market. (2) Population growth plays a significant role in the coordinated development of the urban economy and public services, fostering urbanization. (3) The economy and public services in shrinking cities rely heavily on revenue generated from the transfer of PUL rights to support their coordinated development. This research provides an insightful comparison between shrinking and non-shrinking cities by integrating the unique compensated land transfer system in China with the critical variable of population change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking cities suffer from a decreased level of resident activities. As a result, areas with low levels of resident activities may become breeding grounds for social issues. To ease and prevent social issues, it is important to deploy physical space optimisation strategies to effectively guide the distribution of resident activities in shrinking cities. To support the development of such spatial strategies, this paper introduces machine learning-based methods for analysing the nuanced non-linear relationship between resident activities and physical space in shrinking cities. Utilising dual-scale grids, this study calculates multi-source spatial elements, which are subsequently integrated with resident activity data to construct a gradient boosting decision tree model. It then analyses the weight of different spatial elements' impacts on resident activities and their nonlinear relationships. The model proposed in this study demonstrates good precision in construing the relationship between resident activities and physical space. Based on the research findings, strategies for different types of spatial development in shrinking cities are drawn out. This paper advocates for the application of this analytical approach before conducting spatial planning in shrinking cities to maximise the effectiveness of spatial development in guiding resident activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing uncertainty of urban development, urban shrinkage in the rapid urbanization process in China has become increasingly serious. While many studies have explored urban shrinkage from the economic and population perspectives, they often ignore the essence of the phased evolution of economic and population factors. Thus, this study introduces the theory of economic resilience into the field of urban shrinkage and constructs a theoretical method for identifying urban shrinkage by integrating economic resilience and population change to reveal the evolutionary trajectory of regional urban growth and shrinkage. The results show that urban economic resilience and population change in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Inner Mongolia region (SSIMR) exhibit strong volatility, highlighting the importance of conducting urban shrinkage studies within specific crisis disturbance scenarios. In the context of the "new normal of the economy", the economic resilience of cities in the SSIMR has significantly declined, and the problem of economic recession is gradually intensifying. The population change trend of cities in the SSIMR is relatively stable, with population loss being a common problem in urban development in the area and its scope and intensity increasing daily. Urban development in the SSIMR is evolving from global growth to widespread shrinkage, with 56.67% of the cities experiencing relative shrinkage, showing a spatial pattern of "western growth–eastern shrinkage". Factors such as the agglomeration effect, industrial structure, and policy system collectively shape the evolution of urban growth and shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban redundancy, often observed in the core areas of cities, poses significant challenges to sustainable development and urban vitality. This study addresses urban redundancy by proposing a quantitative framework to both identify and mitigate its effects, using Ashram Road in Ahmedabad, India, as a case study. The research employs a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis (MCDMA) based on data collected through physical surveys and literature reviews. This analysis integrates approaches such as redevelopment, adaptive reuse, policy interventions, and economic strategies to counter redundancy effectively. The findings highlight that Ashram Road's core area, despite its historical and cultural significance, faces challenges like poor maintenance, high vacancy rates, and inadequate utilization of the available floor space index (FSI). The proposed framework aims to develop context-sensitive strategies that uphold the intrinsic value of core urban areas while promoting sustainable regeneration. The study demonstrates the need for a balanced approach that combines modern development with preservation, providing insights for urban policy-making that enhances the resilience and longevity of city cores.

This paper addresses current debates on the role of social capital in the context of urban shrinkage, by investigating the specific role of informal social capital. The results are drawn from qualitative studies conducted in two French medium-sized shrinking cities. The findings show that similarly to the institutional and collective forms of social capital analyzed in previous literature, informal social capital is also impacted by the changes affecting urban place in the context of shrinkage, and particularly weakened for elderly residents – especially women – and young professionals. At the same time, it constitutes an efficient resource, that helps residents facing shrinkage-related problems individually rather than addressing shrinkage itself collectively. Finally, the findings highlight the role of specific social actors such as community centres who, by providing institutionalized sources of social capital, foster the creation of informal social capital and allow us to address its unequal distribution and weakening. This emphasizes the need to reconsider current social capital-based planning strategies, from relying mainly on collective initiatives addressing shrinkage, to supporting institutional social actors in the creation of small scale, individual level social ties and interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interreligious engagement (IE) has been experienced and theorized mainly as the pursuit of a shared respectful awareness of the beliefs, practices, and social experiences of multiple religious communities. In rare instances, it has been possible to create architecture specifically to foster IE, as in the "tri-faith" Abrahamic campus in Omaha and the Berlin House of One. The theme is: Here we are, accepting that we share the world. Another form of IE that deserves to attract more interest is multireligious collaboration in civic work (addressing homelessness, urban blight, illiteracy, etc.). Some adherents of the intrinsically cosmopolitan "world" religions are actively cosmopolitan to the extent of seeking this engagement. The theme is: Let us share the work of the world, including sharing our religiously inflected processing of what the practical issues facing us are. There is a new initiative of this sort in my city, Jackson, Mississippi, named (from M. L. King) the "Beloved Community". An architectural thought experiment may prove helpful in articulating the ideals for such an endeavor. What would be the physical desiderata for its headquarters? Let us imagine a new downtown building, The Meeting, dedicated to housing meetings where mixed religious groups learn about civic issues and coordinate efforts to address them. Full interreligious sharing of a space seems to require a neutral design lacking any definite religious inspiration. But there are nonsectarian ways to create an appreciably special, non-ordinary space, as in courtrooms and classrooms. Could a civic IE headquarters be special, expressive of practical optimism, and contain a sufficient religious allusion to qualify as a "next-to-sacred space" in which religious actors felt supported in the civic extension of their religious lives? I offer suggestions for discussion, including (1) a pavilion-style building suggestive of being set up for a special purpose—not soaringly grandiose but with a vertical feature such as a central roof lantern; (2) at least one major porch, with benches and tables; (3) an outside water fountain with public water supply (a historical allusion to the Islamic sabil); (4) inside, right-sized meeting rooms around the glass-walled periphery; (5) a big "living room" lounge in the center, usable for larger meetings, with access to a kitchen, and with a big project board for tracking work completed and work in hand next to a large map of the city; (6) a moderate descent of several steps into each meeting room so that there is a feeling of commitment in attending a meeting and a sense of challenge in going forth from one; (7) otherwise a main floor levelness and openness facilitating movement in and out, as in a train station; and (8) upstairs small offices for religious and other qualifying organizations. Answering the aesthetic and practical questions these suggestions raise takes us into imagining civic IE more concretely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western cities have been confronted with the challenges of 'urban shrinkage' as changes in economic and production models have caused population migrations. China, in its recent history, has experienced rapid and dynamic growth in its cities. However, as its economy is evolving, it too is being confronted with 'urban shrinkage' challenges. Populations have been shifting inside small and medium sized cities in response to problems created during this rapid growth period. Most heritage areas have suffered from depopulation, neglect and disinvestment. The historic Puhuiquan neighborhood in Yulin City is a classic example of the current Chinese version of 'urban shrinkage'. Yulin City, founded as a military city five centuries ago, has shifted its focus away from its historic purpose into a resource-based city. Yulin's planning developed new areas, drawing population out of the historic Puhuiquan neighborhood. This area is the home to a unique urban cultural landscape where land and architecture have merged to create the development of various types of 'cave' houses. Suffering from the effects of 'urban shrinkage', this research explores the causes and potential solutions for the area employing both 'smart shrinkage' and 'urban renewal' strategies, informed by local resident participation, to develop a sustainable renewal strategy for this heritage area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation is rapidly altering ecosystems, leading to profound biodiversity loss. To mitigate these effects, we need a better understanding of how urbanisation impacts dispersal and reproduction. Two contrasting population demographic models have been proposed that predict that urbanisation either promotes (facilitation model) or constrains (fragmentation model) gene flow and genetic diversity. Which of these models prevails likely depends on the strength of selection on specific phenotypic traits that influence dispersal, survival, or reproduction. Here, we a priori examined the genomic impact of urbanisation on the Neotropical túngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus), a species known to adapt its reproductive traits to urban selective pressures. Using whole‐genome resequencing for multiple urban and forest populations we examined genomic diversity, population connectivity and demographic history. Contrary to both the fragmentation and facilitation models, urban populations did not exhibit substantial changes in genomic diversity or differentiation compared with forest populations, and genomic variation was best explained by geographic distance rather than environmental factors. Adopting an a posteriori approach, we additionally found both urban and forest populations to have undergone population declines. The timing of these declines appears to coincide with extensive human activity around the Panama Canal during the last few centuries rather than recent urbanisation. Our study highlights the long‐lasting legacy of past anthropogenic disturbances in the genome and the importance of considering the historical context in urban evolution studies as anthropogenic effects may be extensive and impact nonurban areas on both recent and older timescales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s, a significant number of Latin Americans began moving to urban centers in the Iberian peninsula. These arrivals grew exponentially. By 2022, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela each had more than 100,000 citizens in Spain. While cities have been the most visible poles of attraction for Latin American immigration, small towns have also witnessed the arrival of Latin Americans. Rural Spain, commonly known as "empty Spain," had been shrinking and waning in silence for decades, due to an aging population and the migration of young adults to the cities. In 2021 Spain's central government started to speak of migration as a solution for depopulation, but this proposal's origins date further back. In 2000 the local government of Aguaviva, a small town in Teruel, decided to bring back life to "empty Spain" by inviting Argentinian families to settle there in exchange for employment and housing. Since then, many more towns have followed suit. The documentary Aguaviva: La vida en tres maletas (2004, "Aguaviva: Life in Three Suitcases"), directed by Verónica Marchiaro and Mario Burbano, offers the story of this first rural repopulation. A close look at the diverse lived experiences portrayed in the documentary, and its different points of views on hospitality, can help guide current conversations on repopulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eliminating poverty and improving welfare are the value pursuit of global development. Based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2020, the path relationship among urban shrinkage, urban–rural development, and residents' welfare growth is empirically tested. The heterogeneity of urban shrinkage affecting residents' welfare are further revealed from multidimensional perspectives such as public financial pressure, attention to ageing cause, provincial capital welfare spillover, land expansion, and geographic differences. The research shows that: (1) Urban shrinkage not only directly inhibit residents' welfare, but also curb the improvement of residents' welfare through widening urban–rural income gap and strengthening urban–rural dual economic structure. (2) The higher the public financial pressure and the attention to the aging cause, the more obvious the inhibitory effect of urban shrinkage on the welfare. The welfare spillover of provincial capital cities show a distinct characteristics of distance attenuation. (3) The inhibitory effect of urban shrinkage on welfare growth is stronger in cities with a higher degree of land expansion. The inhibitory effect of the widening urban–rural income gap on welfare growth presents a V-shaped trend with land expansion. (4) The overall impact of urban shrinkage, urban–rural income gap, and urban–rural dual economic structure on residents' welfare is negative, and the spatiotemporal heterogeneity is significant. The impact of urban shrinkage on residents' welfare in seven cities of Hebei and Shandong province is at the stage of turning from negative to positive during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking cities are seen as places with poor development prospects, as places that should adjust to given future realities of shrinkage. However, because the future is open to many alternative possibilities, shrinking cities also have a variety of alternative futures to which earlier research has paid less attention. This study aims to identify and analyse the alternative future development trajectories of shrinking cities. In this study, the futures research method called futures wheel is utilized to analyse possible future consequences of 24 different forces of change that can steer the future development of shrinking cities. By combining the futures wheel method with qualitative data from eight shrinking Finnish cities, we can reveal possible future development paths that may result from the forces. Overall, our results show that shrinking cities have various alternative future development trajectories leading to various outcomes. Some of the forces may intensify the current negative effects caused by urban shrinkage. By contrast, other forces can radically change future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks provide environmental, social and economic benefits to users. A notable model that sought to integrate green spaces and create self-sufficient, healthy and pleasant places to live by combining the best aspects of urban and rural life was the garden city model. This led to the creation of many green areas across many African cities, including Kumasi, Ghana. However, considering the rapid decline and deterioration of urban parks in African cities, a key question being asked by the paper is that: is there decline in urban parks and their usage because users are not satisfied with them and thus do not patronise them? Premised on this, this paper examines the factors that influence the satisfaction and patronage of the Rattray Park in Nhyiaeso, commissioned in 2015 and remains the only functional recreational and urban green park in the city of Kumasi. Data was obtained from 237 park users along four indicators, namely (i) sociability, (ii) user and activities, (iii) accessibility and linkage and (iv) comfort and image. The results showed sociability as the most significant factor which influenced users' satisfaction and patronage of the park, i.e. users were more concerned about the provision of facilities for recreation and socialisation. The major contribution of this paper is that sustaining urban parks will happen when there are conscious attempts by relevant stakeholders to identify, appreciate and understand the varying needs of users. This study further contributes to better understanding the garden city model and provides some suggestions to improve upon the quality and patronage of parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of urban shrinkage has gradually become a new topic. Theoretically, urban shrinkage may exert great influence on land use efficiency (LUE) through various urban subsystems, but there is currently limited research examining these pathways. Using the Super-SBM-Undesirable model and the Structural Equation Model (SEM), this study calculates the LUE of shrinking cities in Northeast China and simulates the process of urban shrinkage affecting LUE. To quantify the process of urban shrinkage affecting LUE, three mediation variables, namely the economy, public services, and innovation, are used as latent variables to apply SEM. The results show that urban shrinkage will affect LUE through a direct path and indirect paths. In the direct path, urban shrinkage leads to an improvement in LUE. In the indirect paths, the economy and innovation will transmit the negative effect of urban shrinkage on LUE, while public services will reverse this effect. An important contribution of this study is that it quantifies the paths of urban shrinkage affecting LUE, thereby expanding the understanding of urban shrinkage effect and laying a foundation for the sustainable development of shrinking cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban shrinkage has emerged as a widespread phenomenon globally and has a significant impact on land, particularly in terms of land use and price. This study focuses on 2851 county-level cities in China in 2005–2018 (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and 'no data' areas in Qinhai-Tibet Plateau) as the fundamental units of analysis. By employing nighttime light (NTL) data to identify shrinking cities, the propensity score matching (PSM) model was used to quantitatively examine the impact of shrinking cities on land prices, and evaluate the magnitude of this influence. The findings demonstrate the following: 1) there were 613 shrinking cities in China, with moderate shrinkage being the most prevalent and severe shrinkage being the least. 2) Regional disparities are evident in the spatial distribution of shrinking cities, especially in areas with diverse terrain. 3) The spatial pattern of land price exhibits a significant correlated to the economic and administrative levels. 4) Shrinking cities significantly negatively impact on the overall land price (ATT = −0.1241, P < 0.05). However, the extent of the effect varies significantly among different spatial regions. This study contributes novel insights into the investigation of land prices and shrinking cities, ultimately serving as a foundation for government efforts to promote the sustainable development of urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coexistence of urban expansion and shrinkage in China has become increasingly apparent; therefore, the current strategic model of growth-oriented urban planning as the top-level design needs to be adjusted. This paper focuses on the city of Baishan, which is a typical shrinking city in China, and explores the feasibility of implementing the concept of smart shrinkage planning in shrinking cities in China by constructing a coupled PLUS-SD model. The results demonstrate the following conclusions: (1) The overall simulation of the coupled PLUS-SD model is superior to that of the PLUS model. In Baishan, the areas with the most changes in construction land will be located at the edges of the landforms by 2030. (2) Using the traditional planning scenario would only exacerbate the rate of construction land expansion in Baishan, deepening the incongruity between the city's population and construction land. (3) The smart shrinkage scenario will require strict control of the scale of construction land and optimization of the structure of the urban construction land, which would push the city in the direction of healthy and sustainable development. (4) The concept of smart shrinkage planning is a scientific and feasible plan for realizing the efficient and sustainable use of construction land in shrinking cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on shrinking cities shows continuous links between this phenomenon and the process of urban decline, which has been analyzed in many works, especially in Greece. The impact on urban development can be positive, while population growth over time is characterized by the degree of its convergence. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the challenge of urbanization in large cities. The sample used in this effort consists of 117 Greek cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 1994, using econometric tools to identify settlements using Markov chain theory with data from 1994 to 2020 from the Hellenic Statistical Authority. Using Urban Hierarchy Research (UHR), a significant decline in Greek Urban Concentration (GUC) and a continuous increase in the population of small- and medium-sized cities were found. The Greek urban system is moving toward a distribution characterized by the seeding of relatively large cities. The study aims to open a broader research discussion in the field of spatial econometric applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of uncertain future climate change, city policy decision-makers must choose strategies that promote climate-resilient development. Nature-based solutions (NbSs) are considered important for solving urban problems, such as carbon neutrality, improving human well-being, and enhancing biodiversity. This study aimed to examine the possibility of using ecosystem services in decision-making for the future scenarios of the city, considering land use change and climate change in combination. Representative ecosystem services of eco-friendly urban paradigms were selected, and ecosystem services and synergies were analyzed when (1) only land use change was considered, and (2) climate change (RCP 8.5) and land use change were both considered. The selected ecosystem services were analyzed using statistical and model-based methods (InVest, MaxEnt) applied to each characteristic and collectible data. The results revealed that food (rice and fishery production) was affected by land use change, recreation and leisure was affected by external activities and climate change. Carbon uptake was affected by both climate change and land use change. Regarding synergy, the amount of carbon uptake decreased by − 1.60% in BAU (S1) and increased by 24.39% in Smart Shrinkage City (S3); however, regarding recreation, the differences depended on the scenarios, such as an increase in S1 by 5.26% and an increase in S3 by 0.99%. We expect that land use change and ecosystem services can provide policymakers with quantitative information, and they can discuss priorities and alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses two separate books. The first book, "Hillsville Remembered," examines the development of public memory surrounding a historical event in Hillsville, Virginia. The author analyzes the various ways in which the event is remembered and represented in museums, media, and contemporary performances. While the book provides valuable insights, the reviewer suggests that further analysis could have been done on feminist perspectives and community engagement with media depictions. The second book, "Preserving the Vanishing City," focuses on the history of historic preservation efforts in Cleveland, Ohio. The author explores the challenges faced by preservationists in a city experiencing urban decline and highlights the biases and discrimination within the preservation community. The book also discusses neighborhood-driven preservation efforts and the impact of housing restoration actions on preserving the city's built landscape. The reviewer praises the book for shedding light on the failures of past practices and advocating for more equitable approaches to revitalization in legacy cities. [Extracted from the article]

Urbanisation critically alters wildlife habitat and resource distribution, leading to shifts in trophic dynamics. The loss of apex predators in human-transformed landscapes can result in changes in the ecological roles of the remaining mesocarnivores. Decreased top–down control together with increased bottom–up forcing through greater availability of anthropogenic foods can result in a predation paradox. Understanding these changes is important for conserving ecological function and biodiversity in rapidly urbanising systems. Here, we use stable isotope analysis to provide insight into longer term changes in trophic position, niche width and overlap of an elusive, medium-sized urban adapter, the caracal (Caracal caracal) in and around the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Using fur samples (n = 168) from individuals along a gradient of urbanisation we find that overall caracals have a broad isotopic dietary niche that reflects their large variation in resource use. When accounting for underlying environmental differences, the intensity of anthropogenic pressure, measured using the Human Footprint Index (HFI), explained variation in both food subsidy use (δ13C values) and trophic status (δ15N values). The significantly higher δ13C values (P < 0.01) and lower δ15N values (P < 0.001) of caracals in more urbanised areas suggest that predator subsidy consumption occurs via predictable, anthropogenic resource subsidies to synanthropic prey. These prey species are predominantly primary consumers, resulting in shifts in diet composition towards lower trophic levels. Further, caracals using areas with higher HFI had narrower isotope niches than those in less impacted areas, likely due to their hyperfocus on a few lower trophic level prey species. This pattern of niche contraction in urban areas is retained when accounting for caracal demographics, including sex and age. The removal of apex predators in human-transformed landscapes together with reliable resource availability, including abundant prey, may paradoxically limit the ecological influence of the remaining predators, and bring about a degree of predator trophic downgrading. The dampening of top–down control, and thus ecosystem regulation, likely points to widespread disruption of trophic dynamics in rapidly developing areas globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have written descriptively about the relationship between suburbanization and central city decline. However, research has not produced systematic, quantitative estimates of the relationships between the components of suburbanization and vacancy—generally or amid urban decline. Such estimates are required to design effective policies that could protect against the social inequalities associated with such development patterns. This paper applies an economic framework of suburbanization and vacancy to 99 urbanized areas in the United States to estimate the impact on central city residential vacancy from 2013 to 2019. The results support the central hypothesis, that regional over‐building contributes to central city vacancy, and that this impact is significantly magnified by the context of decline. Results show regional over‐building causes central city vacancy in Shrinking Cities at 9.6 times the effect observed in other Principal Cities. Ameliorating factors vary between Shrinking and Non‐Shrinking contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past two decades discussions on urban shrinkage have been increasing in intensity, mainly due to the irresistible trends of migration, economic transformation, and the so-called "siphon effect" of large and mega cities. Yet, very few studies have tried to understand urban shrinkage from the perspective of local microscopic unit evolution. This study develops a novel model for simultaneous simulation of expansion and shrinkage (MSSES) of urban built-up areas. Starting from a microscopic basis, our MSSES can simulate both the processes and the states that lead to spatial expansion or shrinkage. A MaxEnt model is further used to investigate the driving factors of microspatial changes and compute the probabilities of shrinkage (or expansion) of urban built-up areas. Finally, it simulates the explicit layout of the spatial distribution of shrinkage (or expansion) patches with the help of a sorting cellular automata (CA) model. The validity of MSSES is verified using multisourced data from the Wuhan agglomeration, China. We show that (1) MSSES can more accurately simulate urban expansion or shrinkage than the currently widely used neighborhood-based Logistic-CA (NL-CA) and (2) MSSES has advantage in solving the commonly seen problem of "diffusion-coalescence," especially for the simulation of outlying expansion. Against the context of the Wuhan metropolitan area, we also found that overall the shrinkage trend is slowing down significantly, presenting three types of shrinkage at city-scale: remote shrinkage, peripheral shrinkage, and international shrinkage. Our study has contributions to the body of knowledge as well as practical implications for urban management and improving the sustainable development of urban areas in both China and abroad. The city we live in may be experiencing a situation where expansion and shrinkage are happening simultaneously. Hence, the simulation and prediction of temporal and spatial changes in urban expansion and shrinkage hold great importance in formulating urban policies. In this study, we propose a model capable of simultaneously predicting urban growth and shrinkage, and apply this model to the urban morphological changes in the Wuhan metropolitan area from 2000 to 2035. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of this model in predicting the locations of urban expansion and contraction in advance. Furthermore, we discovered that the overall shrinkage trend is projected to significantly decelerate in the future. These findings offer support for intervention in urban planning, guiding the development of urban spaces and advancing the scientific aspects of urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to research different strategies for developing the green economy in shrinking cities. Considering urban shrinkage and the green economy as two extended concepts, a French town in post-Fordist transition and a Mexican post-mining town are selected as the most diverse/similar systems to indicate different strategies for sustainable development in shrinking cities. Embedded into different national backgrounds, including urban dynamics and support schemes for the green economy, the selected cases share the objectives of greening and regrowing strategies relying on other sectors of the green economy. The methodology applied is qualitative, including fieldwork, semi-structured interview techniques, carried out in person or remotely, and questionnaires. Findings show some positive results regarding sustainability and ecological transition in the French case, while regrowth trends were reached in the Mexican case. However, the analysis leads to uncertain scenarios for positive long-term impacts, especially due to uncertainty around future supporting policies for territorial cohesion and sustainability at national and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of urban decline is widespread in Europe; however, in Spain, it was an isolated phenomenon, affecting a few deindustrialized cities during the crisis of the 1980s. In the second decade of the 21st century, it has affected more than a third of Spain's medium-sized cities that have experienced depopulation. Largely ignored at the political level, urban geography is beginning to address the issue. In general, the aging and loss of the working population correlates with the decline of these cities. However, four clusters show that the process is complex. A closer examination of five critical cases Cádiz, Ferrol, Jaén, Linares and Talavera de la Reina, shows that the industrial crisis is combined with the Great Recession and the decline of private services, simultaneously with an increase in the population over 65 and an emigration of skilled workers to the main metropolitan areas. This process, which has already raised citizens' awareness, should be included in the political agenda. The discussion of the article suggests some strategies for dealing with the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: A steady decline in the urban population is a pressing problem for many countries in the world. Urban depopulation is also observed in Poland. This phenomenon not only leads to demographic changes, but it also has economic, financial, social, and environmental implications. Numerous studies have shown that urban shrinkage has different causes and implications, which reflects the complex and multifaceted character of the problem Aim: The aim of this article was to identify and classify shrinking cities in Poland based on the criterion of a steady decline in the urban population, to classify shrinking cities based the rate of urban depopulation, and to examine the relationship between urban depopulation and the indicators of local socioeconomic development. Results: Urban shrinkage was explored not only in the theoretical, but also in the practical context because this process can be expected to intensify in the future. The study demonstrated that the rate of urban shrinkage in Poland increased between 2012 and 2021 and affected a growing number of cities. Urban shrinkage was identified in 174 urban municipalities with the use of the proposed approach. These cities can be divided into three groups based on the rate of urban shrinkage. The identified groups of cities were characterized by different levels of economic growth and different relationships with the analyzed indicators of urban shrinkage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison of the results of municipal elections in 2020 and the results of the most recent presidential and legislative elections in 2017 (results confirmed in 2022) has revealed a growing disconnection between the local and national political scenes. The aim of this special issue is to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon by drawing on the achievements of electoral socio-geography, which is experiencing a certain revival in France. In addition to analyses focused on the political offer, in particular partisan strategies, this introduction argues in favor of taking greater account of certain urban and socio-demographic dynamics, in order to understand this disconnection. After presenting the revival of the ecological approach to political behavior in France, this article puts into perspective studies on gentrification, urban decline and territorial inequalities and their effects on electoral choices and participation, and more generally on the relocalization of municipal campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]