How Civil Society Organizations Drive Innovative Cultural Strategies in Shrinking Cities: A Comparative Case Study of Oberhausen, Germany and Riga, Latvia

In a context where planning strategies were conceived to accommodate urban growth, urban shrinkage urges scholars and practitioners to develop innovative approaches. This paper aims to explore the role of culture in qualitative transformations in shrinking cities. The focus of this analysis is governance networks with key actors, their resources, challenges, and mutual dependencies. In this comparative case study, the data was collected in a qualitative way via in-depth interviews with representatives of local governments and cultural NGOs, as well as politicians, private actors, and residents from neighborhood organizations. The results show that municipalities in shrinking cities lack crucial qualities such as creativity, trust, and knowledge of local communities to efficiently govern shrinking cities. Local governments increasingly rely on civil society organizations that utilize culture as a tool to innovate new methods for community development and to provide social services for vulnerable groups. Two approaches to governance through culture are presented which differ significantly between two shrinking cities: the economically prosperous Latvian capital, Riga, and a peripheral German city, Oberhausen, with one of the largest financial debts in the country. This paper debunks the image of shrinking cities as citadels of empty spaces for arts, emphasizes the role of strategic planning, highlights the crucial role of civil society organizations in civic engagement and maintenance of cultural provision, and reflects on their precarious position ‘in the shadow of hierarchy’. Several policy implications for a community-focused cultural development of shrinking cities are provided.