Abstract
Recent popular and scholarly work has drawn attention to the issue of shrinking cities. In particular, a growing body of literature has focused on the impacts of population loss on European cities, and more recently, the deindustrialized areas of the United States. Fewer scholars have examined the phenomenon of shrinkage in the suburban context. This paper explores the evolution of shrinking suburbs in the United States from 1980 to 2010. Three research questions motivate this study: (1) What is the population change in suburban neighborhoods and places from 1980 to 2010? (2) Where are shrinking suburbs located? (3) What are the trajectories of change of shrinking suburbs? A definition of shrinking suburbs using spatial and temporal criteria is operationalized. Using census tract-level data with normalized boundaries from the Neighborhood Change Database, numerous socioeconomic variables were extracted for the 30-year study period. In total, the results demonstrate that approximately one-quarter of all suburbs were shrinking. The characteristics of shrinking suburbs are identified and a typology of seven trajectories of suburban decline is developed. The conclusion reflects on the implications of shrinking suburbs for sustainable development.
Highlights
And popular interest in the phenomenon of shrinking cities has blossomed in the last decade [1]
Springfield was once an iconic, suburban-like community situated between the metropolitan areas of Dayton and Columbus, which Newsweek [3] highlighted as the quintessential “American Dream.”
The United States experienced strong population growth during the previous three decades, increasing by nearly 70 percent from 181 million in 1980 to 309 million in 2010. Half of this growth occurred in metropolitan areas, and the majority of metropolitan growth occurred in suburbs
Summary
And popular interest in the phenomenon of shrinking cities has blossomed in the last decade [1]. The case of Springfield, Ohio, underscores this interest. A recent headline read, “A Shrinking City Faces A Tough Economic Future” [2]. Springfield was once an iconic, suburban-like community situated between the metropolitan areas of Dayton and Columbus, which Newsweek [3] highlighted as the quintessential “American Dream.”. Since 1980, Springfield’s population declined by 16%, losing some 12,000 residents. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the economic future of cities and suburbs like Springfield remained uncertain in the face of globalization and deindustrialization
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