ABSTRACT
This book provides a comparative analysis of shrinking cities in a broad range of postsocialist countries within the so-called Global East, a liminal space between North and South. While shrinking cities have received increased scholarly attention in the past decades, theoretical, and empirical research has remained predominantly centered on the Global North. This volume brings to the fore a range of new perspectives on urban shrinkage, identifying commonalities, differences, and policy experiences across a very diverse and vivid region with its various legacies and contemporary controversial developments. With chapters written by leading experts in the field, insider views assist in decolonizing urban theory. Specifically, the book includes chapters on shrinking cities in China, Russia, and postsocialist Europe, presenting comparative discussions within countries and crossnational cases on theoretical and policy implications.
The book will be of interest to students and scholars researching urban studies, urban geography, urban planning, urban politics and policy, urban sociology, and urban development.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|26 pages
Shrinkage in the postsocialist countries: Concepts and theory
part II|108 pages
China
chapter 4|16 pages
Population shrinkage in resource-dependent cities of China during transition period
chapter 6|18 pages
Two sides of the same coin
part III|92 pages
Russia
chapter 10|13 pages
Urban shrinkage in Russia
chapter 11|18 pages
Diverse landscape of urban and regional shrinkage in Russia
chapter 12|17 pages
The transformation of local labor markets in shrinking cities in Russia from 2010 to 2017
chapter 13|18 pages
Giving birth in dying towns
chapter 14|14 pages
Review of spatial planning instruments in a Russian shrinking city
part IV|106 pages
Postsocialist Europe
chapter 16|21 pages
Shrinking cities in postsocialist countries of Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
chapter 18|19 pages
Coping with shrinkage in old and young mining cities in Slovakia
chapter 20|21 pages
Drivers, consequences, and governance of urban shrinkage in Lithuania
part V|28 pages
Conclusions, policy implications, and research