MultilevelShrinking Governance Areas or the Art of Working Together Front-runners in Innovative Citizen Participation Methods, Instruments and Practices Annegret Haase, Gert-Jan Hospers, Simone Pekelsma & Dieter Rink Mart Grisel & Frans van de Waart Shrinking Areas Shrinking Areas Front-runners in Innovative Citizen Participation Annegret Haase, Gert-Jan Hospers, Simone Pekelsma & Dieter Rink ISBN/EAN: 978-94-90967-06-2 NUR: 740 Published by: European Urban Knowledge Network P.O. Box 90750 2509 LT The Hague The Netherlands
[email protected] www.eukn.org The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the European Urban Knowledge Net- work (EUKN) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Cover photo: © Maurice Hermans, Zachte G. [This picture was taken during the i_beta/event 2011 in the city of Heerlen, the Netherlands, see p. 44.] Book production: Wardy Poelstra, Amsterdam Design: www.kruit.nl Lay-out: Inkahootz, Amsterdam Print: Wilco, Amersfoort © EUKN November 2012 Contents Foreword 6 Mart Grisel Analysis: Urban Shrinkage and the Need for Civil Engagement 7 Gert-Jan Hospers Analysis: Protest, Participation, Empowerment. Civic Engagement in Shrinking Cities in Europe: The Example of Housing and Neighbourhood Development 29 Annegret Haase & Dieter Rink Interview: Thorsten Wiechmann: “Europe: islands of growth in a sea of shrinkage” 40 Case Study: The Netherlands 44 Case Study: Czech Republic 47 Interview: Jooske Baris: “Many shrinking areas still automatically focus on attaining growth” 49 Case Study: Germany 53 Case Study: Denmark 55 Interview: Tamara Weyman : “Local governments have an important role to play within a shrinking context” 58 Case Study: United Kingdom 64 Case Study: Hungary (EU Presidency Study on Demographic Change) 67 Conclusion 70 About the Authors 72 Endnotes 73 References 75 Shrinking Areas - 5 Foreword With few exceptions, cities and towns all across Europe currently face the effects of ageing and depopulation.