The shrinking city phenomenon has affected metropolitan areas around the world, leading to dramatic decline in their economic and social bases. Offering case studies of cities from five different continents, this volume considers specific economic, social, environmental, cultural and land-use issues as it places "shrinking cities" in a global perspective.

Section I: Shrinkage in a Global Perspective 1. Introduction Karina Pallagst, Cristina Martinez-Fernandez and Thorsten Wiechmann 2. Theoretical Approaches of "Shrinking Cities" Emmanuèle Cunningham-Sabot, Ivonne Audirac, Sylvie Fol and Cristina Martinez-Fernandez Section II: Urban Change and the Role of Shrinkage 3. Shrinking Cities in the United States in Historical Perspective: A Research Note Robert A. Beauregard 4. Shrinking Cities in the Fourth Urban Revolution? Ivonne Audirac 5. The Interdependence of Shrinking and Growing: Processes of Urban Transformation in the USA in the Rust Belt and Beyond Karina Pallagst 6. The Restructuring of Declining Suburbs in the Paris Region Marie-Fleur Albecker and Sylvie Fol 7. Growth Paradigm Against Urban Shrinkage: A Standardised Fight? The Cases of Glasgow (UK) and Saint-Etienne (France) Emmanuèle Cunningham-Sabot and Hélène Roth 8. Making Places in Increasingly Empty Spaces: Dealing With Shrinkage in Post-Socialist Cities: The Example of East Germany Thorsten Wiechmann, Anne Volkmann and Sandra Schmitz 9. The Nagasaki Model of Community-Governance: Grassroots Partnership with Local Government Hiroshi Yahagi 10. Shrinkage and Expansion in Peri-Urban China: Exploratory Case Study from Jiangsu Province Chung-Tong Wu, Xiao-Lin Zhang, Gong-Hao Cui and Shu-Ping Cui 11. A Cluster of the Four Coal Mining Cities in Korea from a Global Perspective: How Did the People Overcome a Crisis After a Massive Closure of Mines? Dong-Chun Shin 12. From "Up North" to "Down Under": Dynamics of Shrinkage in Mining Communities in Canada and Australia Laura Schatz, David Leadbeater, Cristina Martinez-Fernandez and Tamara Weyman 13. Analytic Implications of the Corporate Town Atenquique and Its Shrinkage, Economic and Environmental Decline José G. Vargas-Hernández 14. Inequality and Urban Shrinkage: A Close Relationship in Brazil Sergio Torres Moraes Section III: Strategic and Policy Implications 15. Emerging Regeneration Strategies in the US, Europe and Japan Jasmin Aber and Hiroshi Yahagi 16. Environmental Sustainability Issues for Shrinking Cities: US and Europe Helen Mulligan 17. Closing Thoughts Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Karina Pallagst and Thorsten Wiechmann