The development and revitalisation of shrinking cities: a twin city comparison

Abstract

The twin cities of Niagara Falls Ontario (ON) and New York (NY) share a natural wonder and an industrial past; however, respective local economic and governance structures have led to a stark demographic divergence between the two cities. Analysis reveals that the economic and demographic processes, as well as government interventions, that led to the divergence between the cities occurred predominantly outside of the local geographic scale. Local perceptions of and strategies to cope with shrinkage and slow growth were comparable in both cities. Niagara Falls, ON’s relative success in retaining population and jobs can be largely attributed to provincial intervention.