Hidden shrinkage, burgeoning inequality and opportunistic urban design

摘要

We live in an ever-urbanized world, yet there are many cities that are 'shrinking'. As Saehoon Kim's (2018) paper rightly points out, shrinking cities are not just a phenomenon of the rust-belt American Midwest or Eastern Europe, but also exist in Latin America, Asia and Southern Europe (Kim 2018). Shrinking cities come in many forms, but have been defined by two key issues, declining populations and increasing abandonment. In my invitation to respond to Saehoon Kim's paper, while not in any sense detracting from the plight of these places, I would like to broaden the debate on what ‘shrinking' means and why different types of 'shrinkage' may deserve our attention.