sustainability Article Does One Decade of Urban Policy for the Shrinking City Make Visible Progress in Urban Re-Urbanization? A Case Study of Bytom, Poland Iwona Kantor-Pietraga Institute of Social and Economic Geography and Spatial Management, University of Silesia in Katowice, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland; [email protected] Abstract: Planning and managing the declining fortunes of shrinking cities are essential in shaping urban policy in post-industrial urban societies, especially in Central and Eastern European states. Many studies emphasize city management and redevelopment as important policy constituencies for driving revitalization. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about policy-making and the underlying political and socio-economic disagreements that impact successful measures to reverse urbanization and regenerate post-industrial cities. This paper provides a case of urban policy-making for Bytom—a severely shrinking city in southern Poland. This article aims to clarify the mismatch between the city’s policy and the socio-economic situation Bytom after 2010. This discrepancy could have weakened effective policy to address shrinkage and revitalization. Statistical and cartographic methods (choropleth maps) helped analyze the socio-economic changes in Bytom and its shrinking. The issues related to the city’s policy were based primarily on free-form interviews and the analysis of municipal and regional documents concerning Bytom. The conducted research shows the need Citation: Kantor-Pietraga, I. Does for concerted and coordinated policy direction that considers the real possibilities of implementing One Decade of Urban Policy for the pro-development projects. Such expectations also result from the opinions of local communities. Shrinking City Make Visible Progress Finding a compromise between the idea of active support for projects implemented in a shrinking city in Urban Re-Urbanization? A Case and an appropriate urban policy is expected. Such an approach also requires further strengthening Study of Bytom, Poland. Sustainability of social and economic participation in local and regional governance. 2021, 13, 4408. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su13084408 Keywords: urban policy; agenda-setting; shrinking city; governance; Bytom Academic Editors: Bharat Dahiya and Jonathan Parkinson 1. Introduction Received: 2 March 2021 The de-urbanization cities are essential elements of the discourse on the economic Accepted: 12 April 2021 Published: 15 April 2021 and social transformation in Central and Eastern Europe [1–3]. This issue is significant in those shrinking cities, where the demographic decline results from a profound and Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral advanced transformation of the economic system. This phenomenon most often leads with regard to jurisdictional claims in to depopulation and economic crisis in the vicinity of such a city [4–6]. It then has the published maps and institutional affil- character of absolute shrinkage (population decline in the city and its surroundings), which iations. can be opposed to relative shrinkage (population decline in the city and increase in its surroundings) and caused by suburbanization [7]. These issues are considered in various contexts, and one of the most important is the problem of different paths of changes in shrinking cities [8–11]. Although the scientific achievements in this field are already significant, there are still some research gaps in learning about processes and phenomena Copyright: © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. accompanying urban shrinkage. Without a doubt, there is still no clear answer to some key This article is an open access article questions. The first is more general and focuses on total reflection—what guidelines should distributed under the terms and create a shrinking city’s urban policy? This way, the question provides the background conditions of the Creative Commons for further extending the question—whether urban shrinkage is sometimes difficult to Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// solve because it is still not always necessary in the urban agenda. There is also a third creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ case in which urban shrinkage is in the agenda-setting. However, the implementation of 4.0/). revitalizing the city is not entirely in line with the initial social expectations. Finally, one Sustainability 2021, 13, 4408. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084408 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 18 Sustainability 2021, 13, 4408 2 of 17 in which urban shrinkage is in the agenda-setting. However, the implementation of revi- talizing the city is not entirely in line with the initial social expectations. Finally, one must mustalso alsoask how ask how long long the transformation the transformation takes takes the thecity city on onthe thepath path of re-urbanization. of re-urbanization. Is the Is thetitle title decade decade enough enough for for this? this? TheThe article article attempts attempts to to respond respond to to the the above above research research challenges, challenges, capturing capturing the the ten ten yearsyears of of struggle struggle with with urban urban shrinkage shrinkage in in Bytom, Bytom, located located in in the the Katowice Katowice conurbation conurbation core core (in(in southern southern Poland). Poland). Figure Figure1 illustrates1 illustrates the th dynamicse dynamics of of depopulation depopulation in in Bytom Bytom and and the the KatowiceKatowice conurbation. conurbation Figure 1. Depopulation in the Katowice conurbation in 2000–2018. Source: By author on the base Figure 1. Depopulation in the Katowice conurbation in 2000–2018. Source: By author on the base of [12]. of data from [12]. The decade’s title time horizon referred to 2000/2010 when Bytom was of particular The decade’s title time horizon referred to 2000/2010 when Bytom was of particular interestinterest to to both both the the scientific scientific community community [ 13[13]] and and politicians politicians (local, (local, regional, regional, national, national, and and eveneven E.U.). E.U.). The The city’s city’s interest interest was was caused caused not not only only by by the the catastrophic catastrophic situation situation of of Bytom Bytom inin the the demographic, demographic, social, social, economic, economic, and and infrastructural infrastructural dimensions. dimensions. It It was was also also essential essential toto break break thethe thenthen taboo in in local local politics, politics, the the motto motto of ofwhich which was was “everything “everything is under is under con- control”,trol”, “nothing “nothing unusual unusual is ha is happening”.ppening”. The The contrast contrast of ofurba urbann policy policy in inBytom Bytom with with the thewidely widely used used journalistic journalistic term term “Polish “Polish Detroi Detroit”t” was was then then very very significant. significant. However, However, an- anotherother ten ten years years passed. passed. It It was was a a period of specificspecific changeschanges inin thethe socio-economicsocio-economic and, and, aboveabove all, all, the the political political sphere. sphere. Bytom Bytom was was and and is is a a symbol symbol of of all all possible possible problems problems of of socio- socio- economiceconomic transformation transformation of of cities cities in in the the entire entire Katowice Katowice conurbation, conurbation, but but also also along along with with WałbrzychWałbrzych and and Ł óŁd´zthroughoutódź throughout Poland Poland [14 [14].]. No No other other city city in in the the Katowice Katowice conurbation conurbation hashas experienced experienced such such different different problems, problems, often often with with such such intensity. intensity. Some Some other other cities, cities, such such asas Sosnowiec, Sosnowiec, managed managed to to eliminate eliminate economic economic and and social social problems problems [15 [15,16].,16]. UrbanUrban policy policy towards towards the the shrinking shrinking city city Bytom Bytom is is taboo taboo and and radically radically different different from from otherother European European cities cities [ 13[13].]. AlthoughAlthough urbanurban shrinkageshrinkage hashas differentdifferent dimensions dimensions in in the the agenda-settingagenda-setting in in western western Europe’s Europe’s cities, cities, it was it was noticeable noticeable that that it was it thewas so-called the so-called systemic sys- (macro-)temic (macro-) Agenda Agenda [17]. In this[17]. group In this of group cities, of Bytom cities, was Bytom a kind was of a “outsider” kind of “outsider” in this respect. in this Simultaneously, the city’s dramatic conditions required particular interventions at the level of both policy and politics. Sustainability 2021, 13, 4408 3 of 17 The research assumptions were referred to in the article to two discourses on urban shrinkage policy. The first of them indicates the need for active and expansive support for shrinking cities. In contrast, the second approach assumes flexible city planning, assuming that it will continue to depopulate in the coming years (right-sizing policy), which is essential when looking to answer the urban policy’s failures in shrinking cities as Bytom. The article attempts to explain this problem, also pointing to the vital role of governance. This city’s governance is specific because it covers a relatively narrow group of stakeholders and the city authorities’ prominent role [16]. Based