Monograph 2009-01 CENTER FOR GLOBAL METROPOLITAN STUDIES AND THE SHRINKING CITIES INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK The Future of Shrinking Cities: Problems, Patterns and Strategies of Urban Transformation in a Global Context Karina Pallagst, Jasmin Aber, Ivonne Audirac, Emmanuele Cunningham-Sabot, Sylvie Fol, Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Sergio Moraes, Helen Mulligan, Jose Vargas-Hernandez, Thorsten Wiechmann, Tong Wu (Editors) and Jessica Rich (Contributing Editor) May 2009 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Karina Pallagst, Jasmin Aber, Ivonne Audirac, Emmanuele Cunningham- Sabot, Sylvie Fol, Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Sergio Moraes, Helen Mulligan, Jose Vargas-Hernandez, Thorsten Wiechmann, Tong Wu (Editors) and Jessica Rich (Contributing Editor) The Future of Shrinking Cities - Problems, Patterns and Strategies of Urban Transformation in a Global Context Center for Global Metropolitan Studies, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, and the Shrinking Cities International Research Network Monograph Series Karina Pallagst, Jasmin Aber, Ivonne Audirac, Emmanuele Cunningham- Sabot, Sylvie Fol, Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Sergio Moraes, Helen Mulligan, Jose Vargas-Hernandez, Thorsten Wiechmann, Tong Wu (Editors) and Jessica Rich (Contributing Editor) MG-2009-01 The Future of Shrinking Cities - Problems, Patterns and Strategies of Urban Transformation in a Global Context Center for Global Metropolitan Studies, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, and the Shrinking Cities International Research Network Monograph Series Karina Pallagst et al. 2009 The Future of Shrinking Cities - Problems, Patterns and Strategies of Urban Transformation in a Global Context Published by Center for Global Metropolitan Studies, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, and the Shrinking Cities International Research Network www.shrinkingcities.org Content Introduction Karina Pallagst and Jasmin Aber .................................................................................................................. 1 I What are the Problems of Shrinking Cities? Lessons Learned from an International Comparison............................................................................................................................ 5 Thorsten Wiechmann Conversion Strategies under Uncertainty in Post-Socialist Shrinking Cities: The Example of Dresden in Eastern Germany.............................................................................................. 5 Emmanuèle Cunningham-Sabot and Sylvie Fol Shrinking Cities in France and Great Britain: A Silent Process? .............................................................. 17 Cristina Martinez-Fernandez and Chung-Tong Wu Shrinking Cities: A Global Overview and Concerns about Australian Mining Cities Cases .................................................................................................................................... 29 Hans Harms Changes on the Waterfront - Transforming Harbor Areas......................................................................... 37 Sergio Moraes Inequality and Urban Shrinkage - a Close Relationship in Latin America ................................................ 49 II Kicking Off the Shrinking Cities Debate in North America ................................................................ 61 Robert Beauregard Shrinking Cities in the United States in Historical Perspective: A Research Note .................................... 61 Ivonne Audirac Urban Shrinkage and Fast Metropolitan Growth (Two Faces of Contemporary Urbanism) ................................................................................................................................................... 69 Karina Pallagst Shrinking Cities in the United States of America: Three Cases, Three Planning Stories .......................... 81 David Leadbeater Single-industry Resource Communities, “Shrinking,” and the New Crisis of Hinterland Economic Development ........................................................................................................... 89 I III Creative Approaches of Revitalizing Shrinking Cities...................................................................... 101 Helen Mulligan Environmental Policy Action: Comparative Importance in Differing Categories of Shrinking City............................................................................................................................................ 101 Jasmin Aber The Creative Imperative in a Postindustrial Economy to Foster a More Sustainable Development in Shrinking Cities............................................................................................................... 111 Jose Vargas Cerro de San Pedro: Grassroots Movements in Cooperation and Conflict to Stop a Living Community from Disappearing...................................................................................................... 121 IV Planning and Policy-Making for Shrinking Cities............................................................................ 127 Rollin Stanley e = m c2 The Relative City...................................................................................................................... 127 Teresa Gillotti and Daniel Kildee Land Banks as Revitalization Tools: The Example of Genesee County and the City of Flint, Michigan.......................................................................................................................................... 139 Joseph Schilling Blueprint Buffalo—Using Green Infrastructure to Reclaim America’s Shrinking Cities......................... 149 Gabi Troeger-Weiß and Hans-Jörg Domhardt Germany’s Shrinkage on a Small Town Scale .......................................................................................... 161 II Introduction Introduction This publication is the outcome of a symposium held at UC Berkeley in February 2007, organized by the Center for Global Metropolitan Studies and the Institute of Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley. It brought together urban and regional planners, architects, engineers, developers, artists, and academics to examine the perspectives of a largely underrepresented topic: shrinking cities. “The Future of Shrinking Cities:Problems, Patterns, and Strategies of Urban Transformation in a Global Context”presents research carried out under the aegis of the Shrinking Cities International Research Network (SCiRN) and – in addition – selected case studies from the United States. The purpose of the publication is to encourage and inform discussion to improve the quality of life in shrinking cities. The authors identify and examine critical projects and issues in shrinking cities and present lessons learned from relevant projects and experiences in the US and abroad. The comparative approach to shrinking cities, incorporating a wide range of case studies in order to widen the debate, is both unique and innovative. The shrinking city phenomenon is a multidimensional process, comprising cities, parts of cities, or entire metropolitan areas that have experienced dramatic decline in their economic and social bases. Thus, urban shrinkage is often a challenge on the wide scale of metropolitan regions and requires policy-makers to redefine traditional paths of regional governance. Urban decline and the loss of employment opportunities are closely linked in a downward spiral, leading to an out- migration of population. The joint work places shrinking cities in a global perspective, setting the context for in-depth comparisons of selected cities considering specific social, economic, environmental, cultural, and land-use issues. Especially in the United States, planning practice is to a large extent concentrated on either managing urban growth or tackling redevelopment in a fragmented – not a regional – way, despite the fact that in many metropolitan regions urban shrinkage reaches beyond individual cities. In this regard, the papers will help initiate a redefinition of regional governance in the U.S. and also in the other participating countries via comparative research on shrinking cities. The first part presents the problems of shrinking cities and lessons learned from an international comparison. Thorsten Wiechmann’ paper “ Strategies under ” focuses on post- socialist shrinking cities. It traces government efforts to manage demographic changes in Dresden, Eastern Germany, where the breakdown of the state-directed economy caused economic decline, industrial regression, and high unemployment rates. From 1989 to 1999, when the city lost population due to out-migration and decreasing birth rates, the administrative system was still directed towards growth objectives throughout the 1990s. Yet over the last seven years, the city has experienced an unexpected growth. Processes of suburbanization have turned into processes of reurbanization, and today in Dresden, areas of shrinkage and decline are in close proximity to prospering and wealthy communities. The strategic challenge is to deal with this patchwork while accepting that the future remains unpredictable. Emmanuèle Cunningham-Sabot and Sylvie Fol present shrinking cities in France and Great Britain. They examine how globalization has led to city shrinkage through the relocation of industry and “” The new distribution of economic structures has led to agglomerations of activities in some regions, whereas others are experiencing decline. In France, 1 Introduction as well as in Great Britain, the transformation of local production systems resulted