Following the collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989, many cities of Eastern Germany embarked on a long-term process of shrinking, characterized by the complex interplay of changes in the demographic, socio-economic and urbanistic structure of the cities. Shrinking processes can be traced back to the complex interplay of processes associated with post-socialist transformation with overall processes of economic re-structuring in globalization context. The article begins with an overview of research on characteristics of shrinking processes in different medium-sized cities of the new federal states. Next, the article researches the political responses and the development policies of selected cities as a means of managing shifts in basic social, economic and investment conditions. The principal focus here is the different institutional pathways of regeneration that cities have embarked upon as a consequence of "shrinkage" and the concrete strategies that have emerged. As yet, however, no long-term or dominant development paths can be discerned in local governance modes and the formulation of new regeneration strategies. The regeneration of shrinking cities and the associated development of new futures for these cities must be understood as part of a long process, in which many paths of development can emerge through the long selection process, as each competes for acknowledgement, attention and limited financial resources.
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