Abstract
EU post-socialist countries are nowadays the epicenter of urban shrinkage, despite economic growth trajectories reported during the last decades. However, systematic assessments of urban shrinkage patterns for this part of the continent are surprisingly insufficiently addressed in the literature, and the relationship between urban demographic decline/growth and economic decline/growth is still to be understood. This paper first delivers a state-of-the-art of the peculiarities of urban shrinkage in East-Central EU countries. Secondly, it employs an analysis grid to assess severity, prevalence, persistence, speed and regional incidence of urban decline in Romania—one of the most affected post-socialist countries within the European Union. Thirdly, it explores the statistical association between urban shrinkage severity and economic growth, on one hand, and between urban shrinkage severity and municipality revenues, on the other. Results show that urban shrinkage is currently increasing in prevalence and severity among Romanian cities, thus continuing an alarming trend that started in 1990. Secondly, the results pinpoint a statistically significant association between demographic shrinkage, local economic output and municipalities’ own-source revenues. However, the size effects are rather weak, suggesting a more nuanced relationship between economic and demographic urban growth than that predicted by some theories of urban change.
Highlights
Two hundred years ago, humanity embarked on a road leading to unprecedented levels of urbanization, a historic voyage that is still to be completed
83% regarding the decline of at least five consecutive years point out dramatic structural changes across the vast majority of Romanian cities
The increasing severity and prevalence of urban shrinking over the last three decades clearly suggests that the Romanian urban shrinkage has not been a temporary phenomenon caused by deindustrialization, nor one that affects only cities that are suffering from suburbanization
Summary
Humanity embarked on a road leading to unprecedented levels of urbanization, a historic voyage that is still to be completed. Cities (especially the largest ones) are currently the winners of globalization [2,3,4,5], the source of most innovation [6], and, broadly speaking, the most socially and economically dynamic places on earth. Beyond these eyecatching facts, a ‘quiet’ process [7,8] of urban demographic shrinkage has been unfolding for some time, though in different shapes and with different intensities from country to country. Urban shrinkage is becoming a challenge even in rapidly urbanising countries such as China [12,13] and
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
