Katrin Grossmann

Conceptualizing urban shrinkage

Since the second half of the 20th century, urban shrinkage has become a common pathway of transformation for many large cities across the globe. Although the appearance of shrinkage is fairly universal—typically manifested in dwindling population, emerging vacant spaces, and the underuse of existing urban infrastructure, ranging from schools and parks to water pipelines—its essence is hidden from view. Phenomena related to shrinkage have been discussed predominantly using terms such as decline, decay, blight, abandonment, disurbanization, urban crisis, and demographic change. Amongst others, these concepts were typically related to specific national contexts, installed in distinct explanatory frameworks, based around diverging normative accounts, ultimately leading to very different policy implications. Yet there is still a lack of conceptualization and integration of shrinkage into the wider theoretical debates in human geography, town and country planning, urban and regional studies, and social sciences at large. The problem here is not only to explain how shrinkage comes about, but also to study shrinkage as a process: simultaneously as a presupposition, a medium, and an outcome of continually changing social relationships. If we wish to understand shrinkage in a specific location, we need to integrate theoretical explanations with historical trajectories, as well as to combine these with a study of the specific impacts caused by shrinkage and to analyse the policy environment in which these processes take place. The authors apply an integrative model which maps the entire process across different contexts and independently of local or national specifics; it covers causes, impacts, responses, and feedback loops, and the interrelations between these aspects. The model does not ‘explain’ shrinkage in every case: instead, it builds a framework into which place-specific and time-specific explanations can be embedded. It is thus a heuristics that enables communication, if not comparison, across different contexts. With the help of this model, the authors hope to find a way in which shrinkage can be studied both in a conceptually rigorous and in an historically specific way. Instead of an invariant ‘process of shrinkage’, they portray a ‘pluralist world of shrinkages’.

Neighborhood change beyond clear storylines: what can assemblage and complexity theories contribute to understandings of seemingly paradoxical neighborhood development?

ABSTRACT Neighborhood research today is largely concerned with two central aspects of neighborhood development: gentrification and decline. This paper sets out to enrich the discourse on neighborhood change, especially that concerned with so-called declining neighborhoods, by drawing on assemblage and complexity theories. These approaches emphasize processes, interdependencies, uncertainties, surprising shifts, and feedback loops in the production of specific spatial formations. We apply this framework in an examination of the development of two neighborhoods in Leipzig: an inner-city district and a large housing estate. We identify internal and external factors impacting these neighborhoods’ trajectories and demonstrate how various multidirectional shifts are crucial to the specific paths—and the understanding—of these neighborhoods’ development. From a conceptual perspective, we advocate for the use of assemblage thinking in addition to existing approaches to neighborhood change.

Shrinking Cities in Post-Socialist Europe: What Can We Learn From Their Analysis for Theory Building Today?

Abstract In the final decades of the twentieth century, the post-industrial regions of western Europe and the US were hot-spots of urban shrinkage, and this also affected large areas in post-socialist countries. Despite ongoing calls for a better integration of diverse global urban experiences into theorization, post-socialist cities and their trajectories, as well as their experiences with rapid urban change, have been largely disregarded in general theory development. At the same time, we face a somewhat inconsistent situation in the theoretical discourse on urban development. There are requests for “new geographies of theory” or to regard all cities as “ordinary”, in order to include different types of narratives and experience into overall comparisons and/or theory building. Set against this background, this paper aims to deal with the case of shrinking post-socialist cities, that is, cities that are “excluded” from hegemonic discourses for two reasons: they are post-socialist and they are shrinking. In contrast to this situation, we understand shrinking post-socialist cities as valuable examples for strengthening the debate on current and future forms of, and determining factors for, general urbanization. At the focus of our paper, therefore, are the questions about what we can learn from the analysis of shrinking post-socialist cities for the general discourse, as well as for theory building for cities, and how we can overcome the observed reluctance to integrate the post-socialist experience into general theory development. The paper draws on an EU 7 FP research project finished in 2012 that comparatively analysed urban shrinkage across several regions of Europe, with a particular focus on post-socialist countries.

Understanding the social development of a post-socialist large housing estate: The case of Leipzig-Grünau in eastern Germany in long-term perspective

For decades, public and scholarly debates on large, post-war housing estates in western Europe have been concerned with social decline. After 1989/1990, the point in time of fundamental societal change in eastern Europe, this concern was transferred to estates in post-socialist cities. However, empirical evidence for a general negative trend has not emerged. Recent publications confirm the persistence of social mix and highlight the differentiated trajectories of estates. This paper aims to contribute to an approach of how to conceptually make sense of these differentiated trajectories. Using data from a unique longitudinal survey in East Germany, starting in 1979, we investigate the state of social mix, drivers of social change and the inner differentiation in the housing estate Leipzig-Grünau. We found no proof for a dramatic social decline, rather there is evidence for a slow and multi-faceted change in the social and demographic structure of the residents contributing to a gradual social fragmentation of the estate. This is a result of path dependencies, strategic planning effects and ownership structures. We discuss these drivers of large housing estate trajectories and their related impacts by adapting a framework of multiple, overlapping institutional, social and urban post-socialist transformations. We suggest embedding the framework in a wider and a local context in which transformations need to be seen. In conclusion, we argue for a theoretical debate that makes sense of contextual differences within such transformations.

Governing Social Cohesion in Shrinking Cities: The Cases of Ostrava, Genoa and Leipzig

Abstract Social cohesion always appears more frequently as a policy goal of the European strategy that promotes the integration of spatial, economic, and social dimensions of growth. This comprehensive approach also has to deal with the social consequences of demographic change, tackle urban poverty, and guarantee access to amenities in isolated neighbourhoods. Such objectives represent specific challenges for shrinking cities, where processes of population decline, job losses and economic constraints as well as financial restrictions create a much more complicated starting position and might make the achievement of the social cohesion even more difficult than in non-shrinking cities. Set against this background, this paper analyses the efforts of three shrinking cities (Ostrava, Genoa, Leipzig) to promote social cohesion under the condition of urban shrinkage, and examines which policies are being promoted to solve problems such as ethnic segregation, ageing, and socio-spatial inequalities. The results show that even though shrinkage does lead to increased challenges for social cohesion, the attempts of policies to tackle them still appear to be secondary priorities, sectoral rather than comprehensive, and involve a certain delay.

Grosswohnsiedlungen als Gestaltungsraum des demografischen Wandels

In this paper, we use data from a longitudinal study to draw a realistic picture of the housing conditions and future potential of large housing estates with a focus on demographic change. In doing so, we plead for a broader look at demographic dynamics: going beyond ageing and population loss to encompass changes of household size and compositions or diverse mobility patterns. Our empirical results, generated in the large housing estate of Leipzig-Grünau in eastern Germany, show huge changes in the demographic characteristics of estate residents within just 30 years, especially faster aging, a steep decline in household size, and a rapidly growing share of one-person households. Years of outmigration have caused a massive overall population loss that only recently came to a halt. Nevertheless, we are also able to provide evidence that a wide range of demographic groups still live in this estate and appreciate the living conditions in terms of housing, service facilities and recreation areas. The changes in household and age structures produce particular housing demands (appropriate apartments and services), which could be broadly satisfied within the large housing estate due to existing diverse residential offers for various housing needs. In conclusion, we argue that large housing estates have an important but underestimated potential to meet housing demand under the conditions of demographic change. Furthermore, the demographic challenges discussed here can be seen as important for other residential areas too. English title: Large Housing Estates as a Flexible Space for Demographic Change – Selected results of a long-term study of the large housing estates of Leipzig-Grünau focusing on the potential of an underestimated type of neighborhood

Building retrofit in shrinking and ageing cities: a case-based investigation

ABSTRACT Thermal renovation (retrofit) of residential buildings is one of the major issues in the transition to a low-carbon energy system. This paper argues that the specific conditions in shrinking middle-size cities create an especially difficult environment for energy renovations. Using empirical data from the shrinking City of Delitzsch, Germany, it is hypothesized that buildings with poor energy efficiency are often inhabited by tenants or owners who impede retrofit activities due to their socio-economic conditions. The research analyzes the relation between buildings with a high potential for final energy reduction and a concentration of low-income, older or empty-nest households. The analysis examines this relation not only on an aggregated city level but also on the level of the citys districts to identify renovation ‘hot spots’ in the city. Specific challenges are identified for building renovations in shrinking cities due to a high concentration of possible barriers in the relevant housing stock. As a further consequence, those households with a low net-equivalent income are also at risk of energy poverty. In order to achieve a low-carbon and just society, possible actions are suggested for buildings with elevated barriers to energy renovation in shrinking cities.

Governance arrangements targeting diversity in Europe: how New Public Management impacts working with social cohesion

ABSTRACT This article analyses how policies to foster social cohesion within diverse and unequal urban contexts are affected by New Public Management and austerity policies. Based on the analysis of a handful of governance arrangements in three cities that differ in their institutional structure and diversity policy approaches (Copenhagen, Leipzig and Milan), it is shown that negative effects are quite widespread yet cushioned by a strong welfare state structure, solid local government and high priority given to the recognition of diversity. Nevertheless, the shift towards the application of market logic to social work reduces innovative potential, increases efforts spent on procedures and weakens public coordination.