Circumstances of urban shrinkage in the West and the need for international comparative research

This chapter reports on an international debate on urban shrinkage by bringing together several national strands of research across the West. It conceptualizes “urban shrinkage” as a specific trajectory of cities, with population loss being its main indicator. Firstly, the chapter deals with bridging the core national debates, before aligning these with local concerns. It then turns to a comparison of governance responses across wider Europe and the USA, highlighting a huge potential for eliciting cross-national knowledge, which needs to be exploited. The chapter aims to augment and sharpen the international research agenda on urban shrinkage by critically reflecting upon governance and policy. Last but not least, this chapter seeks to align the research on urban shrinkage with general challenges and strands of research in urban and regional studies, human geography, and spatial planning by linking it with other debates in urban studies, e.g. urban inequalities, economic resilience, and resource efficiency