IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v53y2021i6p1244-1248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shrinking cities on the globe: Evidence from LandScan 2000–2019

Author

Listed:
  • Xiangfeng Meng

    (School of Architecture, 422699Tsinghua University, Beijing, China)

  • Zhidian Jiang

    (School of Architecture, 12442Tsinghua University, China; College of Architecture and Urban Planning, 12476Tongji University, Beijing, China)

  • Xinyu Wang

    (School of Architecture, 12442Tsinghua University, Beijing, China)

  • Ying Long

Abstract

Shrinking cities have spread across the globe in recent decades, characterizing significant population loss, economic decline, and decay in spatial quality. To maintain global economic prosperity in the context of urban shrinkage and support decision making in the direction, it is necessary to accurately identify shrinking cities on a global scale. We utilize redefined natural city boundaries and the LandScan dataset to identify and map shrinking cities experiencing population loss on the globe. As a result, we have identified 5004 shrinking cities worldwide, with a total area of 126,930 km 2 during 2000–2019. The ratio of which in number and in area is 27% and 22%, respectively. The shrinking cities are clustered and mainly located in Europe, Eastern Asia, and northeastern United States. There are 41 countries with more than 20 shrinking cities on the globe. The number of shrinking cities in China reached 679, which is the most. Among the 41 countries, the median value of the natural cities’ shrinking ratios of Iraq, Iran, Austria, South Africa, Russia, Georgia, and Belarus is >50%, indicating that the urban population loss in these countries is relatively serious. Our findings can be used to inform decision makers and urban planners to adjust the “growth-oriented†planning paradigm and adopt precise strategies, to form a healthier urban development.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiangfeng Meng & Zhidian Jiang & Xinyu Wang & Ying Long, 2021. "Shrinking cities on the globe: Evidence from LandScan 2000–2019," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1244-1248, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:53:y:2021:i:6:p:1244-1248
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X211006118
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X211006118
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X211006118?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cristina Martinez‐Fernandez & Ivonne Audirac & Sylvie Fol & Emmanuèle Cunningham‐Sabot, 2012. "Shrinking Cities: Urban Challenges of Globalization," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 213-225, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuanzhen Song & Weijie He & Jian Zeng, 2023. "Exploration of Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Threshold Effect of Shrinking Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Yuanping Wang & Mu Lin & Jingxin Gao & Zhaoyin Zhou, 2021. "Fading Attraction of the Shrinking City: An Empirical Study from an Urban Resource Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Li, Huixuan & Chen, Jing & Chen, Zihao & Xu, Jianguo, 2022. "Urban population distribution in China: Evidence from internet population," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Xiangfeng Meng & Ying Long, 2022. "Shrinking cities in China: Evidence from the latest two population censuses 2010–2020," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(3), pages 449-453, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qingsong He & Miao Yan & Linzi Zheng & Bo Wang & Jiang Zhou, 2023. "The Effect of Urban Form on Urban Shrinkage—A Study of 293 Chinese Cities Using Geodetector," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Rosanna Salvia & Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir & Sirio Cividino & Luca Salvati & Giovanni Quaranta, 2020. "From Rural Spaces to Peri-Urban Districts: Metropolitan Growth, Sparse Settlements and Demographic Dynamics in a Mediterranean Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Liu, Xingjian & Wang, Mingshu & Qiang, Wei & Wu, Kang & Wang, Xiaomi, 2020. "Urban form, shrinking cities, and residential carbon emissions: Evidence from Chinese city-regions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    4. Simone Rusci & Diego Altafini & Valerio Di Pinto, 2021. "Urban Demolition: Application of Blight Elimination Programs and Flood Buyout Programs to the Italian Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Shin, HaeRan & Chae, Sangwon, 2018. "Urbanisation and land use transition in a second-tier city: The emergence of small factories in Gimpo, South Korea," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 534-541.
    6. Prener, Chris & Braswell, Taylor & Monti, Daniel J., 2018. "St. Louis's "Urban Prairie": Vacant Land and the Potential for Revitalization," SocArXiv bc7eh, Center for Open Science.
    7. Ye Seul Choi & Up Lim, 2015. "Effects of Regional Creative Milieu on Interregional Migration of the Highly Educated in Korea: Evidence from Hierarchical Cross-Classified Linear Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Dustin L. Herrmann & William D. Shuster & Audrey L. Mayer & Ahjond S. Garmestani, 2016. "Sustainability for Shrinking Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-9, September.
    9. Shao, Shuai & Zhang, Xuebin & Yang, Lili, 2023. "Natural resource dependence and urban shrinkage: The role of human capital accumulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Katarzyna Kocur-Bera & Karol Szuniewicz, 2021. "Socio-Spatial Aspects of Shrinking Municipalities: A Case Study of the Post-Communist Region of North-East Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Bartłomiej T. Sroka, 2022. "Urban Shrinkage as a Catalyst of a Transition, Revolving around Definitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-12, October.
    12. Broitman, Dani & Ben-Haim, Yakov, 2022. "Forecasting residential sprawl under uncertainty: An info-gap analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Shuyi Xie & Elena Batunova, 2019. "Shrinking Historic Neighborhoods and Authenticity Dilution: An Unspoken Challenge of Historic Chinatowns in the United States through the Case of San Francisco," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Iwona Kantor-Pietraga, 2021. "Does One Decade of Urban Policy for the Shrinking City Make Visible Progress in Urban Re-Urbanization? A Case Study of Bytom, Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    15. Sebastian Bernat & Małgorzata Flaga, 2022. "Cittàslow as An Alternative Path of Town Development and Revitalisation in Peripheral Areas: The Example of The Lublin Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-27, October.
    16. Elena Batunova & Giovanni Perucca, 2020. "Population shrinkage and economic growth in Russian regions 1998–2012," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 595-609, August.
    17. Alessia D’Agata & Daniele Ponza & Florin Adrian Stroiu & Ioannis Vardopoulos & Kostas Rontos & Francisco Escrivà & Francesco Chelli & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Luca Salvati & Samaneh Sadat Nickyain, 2023. "Toward Sustainable Development Trajectories? Estimating Urban Footprints from High-Resolution Copernicus Layers in Athens, Greece," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, July.
    18. Rachid Belaroussi & Margherita Pazzini & Israa Issa & Corinne Dionisio & Claudio Lantieri & Elena Díaz González & Valeria Vignali & Sonia Adelé, 2023. "Assessing the Future Streetscape of Rimini Harbor Docks with Virtual Reality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    19. Maksymilian Solarski & Robert Krzysztofik, 2021. "Is the Naturalization of the Townscape a Condition of De-Industrialization? An Example of Bytom in Southern Poland," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    20. Philipp Aerni, 2016. "Coping with Migration-Induced Urban Growth: Addressing the Blind Spot of UN Habitat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-21, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:53:y:2021:i:6:p:1244-1248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.