A global multidisciplinary network on housing research and learning
Partner
Planning Institute in Grenoble – UPMF
Authors
Kristina Gjini
Contributors
Adriana Diaconu
Date
May 6th, 2015
Workspace
CONTEMPORARY LIVING PATTERNS: GROWTH / SHRINKAGE
Learning Activity
LA82 Concepts and contexts of Growth and Shrinkage
TASK 1: RESEARCH
Main Concepts
The aim of this document is to synthesize the definitions given to the main notions used in the
Workspace. This is a "work in progress" document to which the different tutors can contribute
with additions, amendments, comments. The information provided in this document is meant
to serve as a support for students in their work on Task_1
01 Urban Shrinkage
The industrialization in the middle of 20th century led to an unprecedented labor force
migration towards cities, and to the creation of industrial towns. For these towns industrial era
was the time of prosperity and rapid development. However over the last fifty years, due to a
number of reasons such as singular economic focus, globalization, and regional politics of
development, many former industrial cities are experiencing urban decline and population loss.
According to Karina Pallagst 1 , the shrinkage phenomenon in the urban context is a
multidimensional process, comprising cities, parts of cities, or entire metropolitan areas that
have experienced dramatic decline in their economic and social bases. Urban decline and the
loss of employment opportunities became the major causes of outmigration (Pallagst et al,
2009).
The demographic loss is a way to describe urban shrinkage. Despite the fact that the numbers
cannot fully depict the development trends of a city, population can be used as a reliable
indicator for attracting investors and households (Beauregard, 2007). According to this author,
a rapid loss of population over a certain period of time is accepted as a way to measure a
shrinking city.
References:
Pallagst, K. et al., (2009) The Future of Shrinking Cities: Problems, Patterns and Strategies of
Urban Transformation in a Global Context. University of California, Available:
www.shrinkingcities.org [April 2015].
Karina Pallagst is professor at the University California at Berkley Center for Global
Metropolitan Studies and lead researcher in the Shrinking Cities International Research
Network.
1
PAGE 2
Beauregard, R.A., (2007). Urban population loss in historical perspective: United States, 1820 –
2000, Environment and Planning A 41(3) 514 – 528, Available:
http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=a40139a [April 2015].
02
Urban Growth
Urban growth relates to the spatial distribution of the economic activities, measured in terms
of population outputs and incomes. Population concentration and growth in a specific area is
closely linked to economy and transportation. People tend to live in places that offer job
opportunities and that are well connected in terms of infrastructure.
Nowadays economic growth is fundamentally urban, since it concentrated in urbanized areas.
As economies moved from traditional societies’ pattern to the modern stage, the role of the
urban sector changed from that of provider of services to that of leader in innovation.
Subsequently cities started serving as engine of economic growth (Rossi and Wright, 2004).
A flourishing urban economy based on the innovative potential of the city attracts new
population, economic and demographic growth thus being intertwined. The economic growth is
related to the urban growth and subsequently to the spatial evolution. On the one hand, the
urbanization process affects the efficiency of the economic growth and, on the other, the
economic growth itself affects the patterns of urbanization.
However, Urban Growth is an urban economics term that among others, involves real income
differences across cities depending on their specialization. Different types of specialized cities
have different size and different demographic trends. Urbanization as a process can foster
income inequality not only between cities but also between different areas within a city
creating spatial hierarchies. Parental choices of neighborhoods, localized peer groups and
human capital investments lead to the spatial stratification of society, which over time becomes
real income inequality, dividing society spatially and economically (Black and Henderson, 1999).
In the spatial terms, urban growth is also associated to urban sprawl. Demographic movement
from cities experiencing economic decline toward growing economic centers creates an
additional demand for housing and services. To accommodate this demand, territories
experiencing economic growth come to suffer from urban expansion and, in return, from the
loss of agriculture land.
References:
Rossi-Hansberg, E and Wright, M., (2004) Urban structure and growth. Working paper.
Stanford: Department of Economics, Stanford University.
Available: http://www.princeton.edu/~erossi/UG.pdf, [April 2015].
Black, D. and Henderson, V., (1999) Journal of Political Economy Vol. 107, No. 2 (April 1999),
pp. 252-284, Available: The University of Chicago Press, [April 2015].
PAGE 3
03
Urban Sprawl
Urban Sprawl, as one of the forms of urban growth, is the phenomena of urban expansion
explained in different ways by many scholars. We can summarize in six general categories the
way Sprawl has been presented in literature. Firstly, it is defined using an example, which is
seen to embody the characteristics of Sprawl, such as Los Angeles. Secondly, the term is often
used as an aesthetic judgment about a type of urban development pattern. Thirdly, sprawl is
considered to be a side effect of other causes, such as high dependence on the automobile,
isolation of the poor in the inner city, or the the spatial mismatch between jobs and housing.
Fourthly, Sprawl is seen as the consequence of some independent variables, such as
fragmented local government, poor planning, or exclusionary zoning. Fifthly, sprawl is explained
as one or more existing patterns of development. Those most frequently mentioned are low
density, leapfrogging, distance to central facilities, dispersion of employment and residential
development. And last, Sprawl is defined as a process of development that occurs over a
certain period of time as an urban area expands (Galster et al, 2010)2.
As outlined above, Urban Sprawl is one name for many conditions (Galster et al, 2010). In order
to make the term more explicit the authors suggest the following definition:
‘Sprawl (n.) is a pattern of land use in an Urban Area that exhibits low levels of some
combination of eight distinct dimensions: density, continuity, concentration, clustering,
centrality, nuclearity, mixed uses, and proximity‘ (Galster et al, 2010).
It important to keep these urban conditions in mind when examining cities, because
demographic movements can be manifested in many dimensions. It is also crucial to
understand the context and the specificities of each urban area and its experiences related to
growth.
References:
Galster, G et al., (2001) Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground:Defining and measuring an elusive
concept. Taylor & Frensis, Housing Policy Debate, Volume 12, Issue 4, 2001,
Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2001.9521426 [May 2015].
2
George Galster is Hilberry Professor of Urban Affairs, Wayne State University; Royce Hanson,
Visiting Professor in the Policy Sciences Graduate Program , University of Maryland , Baltimore County; Michael R. Ratcliffe,
Geographer in the Population Distribution Branch, Population Division , U.S. Bureau of the Census; Harold Wolman,
Director of the George Washington Institute of Public Policy and Professor in the Department of Political Science , George
Washington University; Stephen Coleman & Jason Freihage, Graduate Research Assistant in the Policy Sciences Graduate
Program , University of Maryland , Baltimore County.
PAGE 4
04
Compact City
The term compact city can be seen as the opposite of the term urban sprawl.
The compact city, is promoted as more energy efficient and less polluting because compact city
dwellers can live closer to shops and work and can walk, bike, or take transit. Advocates claim it
promotes more community-oriented social patterns (Neuman, 2005). However, preliminary
evidence testing the compact city vis-à-vis sustainability suggests that the relation between
compactness and sustainability can be negatively correlated, weakly related, or correlated in
limited ways (Neuman, 2005).
The concept of the compact city was actually inspired by the model of the densely developed
core of the traditional European cities. These models are attractions not only to professionals
but also to visitors and are seen as perfect places to live the vitality of urban life. The theory of
compact city beyond its romantic vision, is to provide a concentration of socially mixed uses
that will concentrate the development and will reduce the need to travel. The promotions of
public transport, cycling and walking are put forward as solutions. Compaction makes the
provision of services easier and thus brings social sustainability. On the other hand, the
compact city might become overcrowded and the loss of urban quality might occur. The
question of how compact a sustainable city should be is still open (Burton et al, 2003). Further
more, can a compact city be an adequate response to urban growth?
As Michael Neuman concludes, conceiving the city in terms of form is neither necessary nor
sufficient to achieve the goals ascribed to the compact city in terms of sustainability. A
(compact) city is much more than a concentration of services and mixed uses. It is the arena
where urban life occurs and this content of a city goes far beyond its form. Conceiving the city
in terms of process where the content shapes its form, holds more promise in attaining the
elusive goal of a sustainable city (Neuman, 2005).
References:
Neuman, M., (2005) The Compact City Fallacy, Journal of Planning Education and Research, vol.
25 no. 1 11-26
Avaliable: http://jpe.sagepub.com.sid2nomade.upmf-grenoble.fr/content/25/1/11.full.pdf+htm
[May 2015].
Burton,E et al., (2003) The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form, Rutledge, Sep 2, 2003
Avaliable:https://books.google.com/books?id=7OCRAgAAQBAJ&dq=what+is+a+compact+city&l
r=,[May 2015].