Dealing with Decline in Old Industrial Cities in Europe and the United States: Problems and Policies

Within the wider context of global population growth and increasing rates of urbanization are smaller subsets of cities on every continent that are losing population – so-called shrinking cities. In Europe and the United States, these cities are concentrated in, though not limited to, old industrial regions. Most of the research on shrinking cities has been at the scale of the individual city or region with very little comparative work. This paper fills a gap in the literature by comparing the problems and urban planning responses in shrinking cities in Europe and the United States – the two parts of the world where shrinking cities are most prevalent – with a particular focus on old industrial cities. The paper focuses on three areas of comparison: the causes of population decline in these cities; the spatial and temporal patterns of decline; and the major elements of policy and planning responses to shrinking cities. Apart from some very broad similarities – population loss, economic decline and restructuring, and abandonment and vacancy – the story of shrinking cities is one of differences not just between Europe and the US, but within these regions as well.