Methodological framework for shrinking cities case study research: northwest region of Bosnia and

Urban shinkage in a 'shrinking' Serbia – the approach to a global phenomenon in a local context

“…The analysis of demographic trends in the previous inter-census interval (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) is difficult, because of the strong influence of the mass immigration of refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Similar demographic patterns have also been visible in the other former Yugoslav countries affected by the wars (Vujičić and Đukić, 2015;Lončar and Braičić, 2016). However, urban shrinkage has also occurred in those parts of South-eastern Europe where there has not been war or it was not intensive and long-lasting.…”

“…All three criteria have a clear reflection in urban space, but with untraditional patterns of distribution of population and the economy. Florentin (2010), Vujičić and Đukić (2015) point out that a shrinking city significantly deviates from the traditional concept of a compact city. Similarly, Lutke-Daldrup ( 2001) depicts the spatial manifestation of this phenomenon as a "perforated city", where spatial holes of abandoned land -so called brownfields -dramatically degrade the urban fabric.…”

Shrinking Rural Areas of Republic of Srpska

“…The war was followed by an attempt to recover, and the changes that took place led to a further decline in almost all areas of society. What marked the shrinkage after the war was: a decline in population growth rate, population aging, negative external migration trends and a decline in economic activity [8]. It is assumed that migration to developed western countries is one of the key causes of post-war stagnation not only in villages but also in cities.…”

“…The exact number of persons who emigrated to other countries is not known, nor is it monitored by B&H institutions. The data about the number of emigrants from B&H are provided from migration statistics of host countries [8]. Nowadays the worrying trend is the relocation of entire families instead of previous, when only male members of the household went to work abroad.…”

“…The Knowledge Alliance for Social Innovation in Shrinking Villages (KINESIS) is one of the international cooperation platforms that is focused on shrinking areas since it creates an international living lab to exchange best practices and innovative ideas developed across Europe [4]. The scale of this phenomenon at the global level has been discussed in the international studies and projects from the beginning of the 21st century [5,6], while at the local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), only individual scientific research has been conducted [7,8]. The focus of all these studies was primarily on the stagnation of urban areas -cities, while the analysis of the rural territory was in the background.…”