ABSTRACT
Several factors have been identified in the literature as influencing the urban shrinkage phenomenon. An underlying factor of shrinking cities throughout the world is the global demographic transition to lower fertility rates at or below replacement levels and lower mortality rates, a global trend experienced for several decades. In the case of Latin America, overwhelmed by fast urbanization and population growth, Latin American scholars have paid scant attention to vaciamiento urbano or urban emptying and many would question any attempt at drawing parallels with American or European shrinking cities. As a result, and in addition to upsurges in unemployment and job dislocations, Latin American cities saw a concomitant bulging of their informal sectors and unprecedented growth in urban violence and crime and widespread urban insecurity. Not unlike American and European metropolitan counterparts, Latin American metropolitan areas have also experienced the doughnut effect or hollowing out of their central territory.
