Urban shrinkage in post-socialist countries

Abstract

The article has two main tasks. On the one hand, it attempts to perform a comparative analysis of the shrinkage process of post-socialist cities in an international perspective and to formulate generalisations and recommendations. On the other hand, it presents the specificity of this process in various national, regional and local contexts. The analysis covers selected countries located in post-socialist Europe (with emphasis on East-Central and Southeast Europe), Russia and China and is focused on three issues: 1) geography of the shrinkage process of post-socialist cities; 2) common and country-specific factors responsible for urban shrinkage; 3) comparative analysis and conclusions in the context of managing urban shrinkage. The article points to the fact that urban shrinkage (especially in terms of demography) is one of the world challenges (with its scale being particularly large in post-socialist Europe), and the COVID-19 pandemic has started to affect its course and spatial distribution. The following key problems associated with the shrinkage of post-socialist cities are identified: 1) overcoming the demographic crisis; 2) demographic compensation for the migration outflow of the population; 3) overcoming the negative consequences of deindustrialization; 4) the problem of “wild” uncontrolled suburbanization, etc.