Varieties of right-sizing strategies: comparing degrowth coalitions in French shrinking cities

Béal, Vincent; Fol, Sylvie; Miot, Yoan; Rousseau, Max

doi:10.1080/02723638.2017.1332927

Cited by 34 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Nevertheless, we must highlight that policies towards them are often growth-oriented especially through strategies based on population attractiveness and residential development [24,27]. In line with our problem, in France, like elsewhere, alternative strategies, e.g., right-sizing ones [27][28][29] or strategies based on endogenous resources are fewer in number.…”

Section: To Be a Medium-sized Industrial Town In The "Metropolized" Wmentioning

confidence: 81%

Cooperation, Proximity, and Social Innovation: Three Ingredients for Industrial Medium-Sized Towns’ Renewal?

Gros-Balthazard

Talandier

2020

Urban Science

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Over several decades, medium-sized industrial towns have suffered from a combination of economic and political processes: Deindustrialization, metropolization, and withdrawal of public services. After two decades in which they have been somewhat neglected (in favor of metropolises), there have recently been State and European public policies aimed at them. Medium-sized cities are not homogeneous and present several trajectories. Based on quantitative approach in France, we highlight the very diverse socio-economic dynamics of French medium-sized industrial towns. Thus, far from widespread decline or shrinking dynamics, some of these cities are experiencing an economic rebound. This is the case of Romans-sur-Isère, a medium-sized town located in the south-east of France. Focusing our qualitative analyze on this city, we try to understand this type of process. In this medium-sized town, former capital of the shoe industry, local stakeholders, private, and public try to support a productive renewal. The results of our case study highlight the role that cooperation, spatial and organizational proximity, and social innovation could play in the renewal of productive economy in medium-sized industrial towns. Even if the economic situation remains difficult for many medium-sized cities in France as in Europe, we argue that they could have a productive future making and ultimately take advantages of their “medium-sized” attributes.

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Section: To Be a Medium-sized Industrial Town In The "Metropolized" Wmentioning

confidence: 81%

Cooperation, Proximity, and Social Innovation: Three Ingredients for Industrial Medium-Sized Towns’ Renewal?

Gros-Balthazard

Talandier

2020

Urban Science

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“…This paradox calls for a comparison with other national contexts. In France or in Germany, the most severe cases of shrinkage are often associated with high vacancy rates in the housing stock reaching up to 13% in the city of Roubaix in the 1990s (Béal et al 2017). This is generally not the case in Poland or in Łódź in particular, because the country suffers from a structural housing shortage inherited from the communist period that was not resolved by the introduction of the market economy.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban shrinkage and housing in a post-socialist city: relationship between the demographic evolution and housing development in Łódź, Poland

Szafrańska

Lille

Kazimierczak

2018

J Hous and the Built Environ

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For several decades, urban shrinkage has been a common pathway of demographic development for many large cities throughout Europe. Although this process began after the collapse of communism in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), it should not be interpreted merely as a consequence of systemic transformation. This process was accompanied by the rapid withdrawal of state involvement in the housing sector, which resulted in an escalation of the housing shortage inherited from the socialist period. Thus, the aim of this article is to present a perspective of shrinking in CEE, which is often marginalized in the global discourse on shrinkage. The main purpose is to investigate the relationship between housing and demographic changes after the collapse of communism and answer the following question: Is the old housing structure a positive legacy, a patrimonial inheritance, or a burden in the context of demographic decline? Methodologically, this paper is a case study illustrating the transformations of housing within the context of the historical and spatial demographic development in the selected city. We focus our attention on the example of Łódź, Poland, which reflects the entire CEE spectrum of problems associated with shrinkage while presenting some particularities. However, the shrinkage phenomenon in Łódź also presents an opportunity for improving future housing options. Within a wider context, this example can be considered a lens for the very complex demographic and housing situation of CEE cities. This case shows that legacies of the communist regime influence the relationship between the demographic decline and housing situation and that even a city with a high range in the urban network can be affected by a severe decline.

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“…Location had a clear influence on the development of these towns: the more peripheral the towns, the higher the population decrease [14,44,45]. Shrinkage in France's small towns was mainly located in areas away from transport networks, lacking links to the country's urban network [16,46]. In Japan, the shrinkage was more serious in small towns near the suburbs of metropolitan areas, which were peripheralized by the core cities.…”

Section: Similarities and Differences Between Small Towns Shrinkage Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Small towns shrinkage in the Jilin Province: A comparison between China and developed countries

Yao

Liu

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Urban shrinkage is currently spreading at global level. At the same time, the scale of urban shrinkage is not limited to urban agglomerations, metropolitan areas, or big cities, but begins to expand to a vast number of small towns. Over the years, the characteristics, models, and mechanisms of shrinkage in large cities have attracted the attention of scholars; however, the problem of shrinkage in small towns has not been fully discussed. In China, small towns are located at the margins of cities and are the first part of the countryside; hence, they are the link and the bridge between urban and rural areas, and a space carrier to solve the diseases of big cities and for rural rejuvenation as a whole. However, in the process of rapid urbanization, some small towns have experienced urban shrinkage, mainly through a decline in township enterprises and the deterioration of the living environment, which has restricted their role in coordinating the spatial support of urban and rural development. Therefore, a correct understanding of the shrinkage of small towns has considerable theoretical and practical guiding significance. We focused on the towns of the Jilin Province as the research unit, and combined township population, economy, land use, and employment indices to establish an urban shrinkage index, identifying the status, spatial distribution, and influencing factors of small towns shrinkage in the Jilin Province. Moreover, we analyzed the similarities and differences of small towns shrinkage between the Jilin Province and developed countries. The results show that small towns shrinkage in the Jilin Province shares similar characteristics with developed countries, as well as important differences in aspects such as population migration, low-level industrial structure, and administrative division adjustments.

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Varieties of right-sizing strategies: comparing degrowth coalitions in French shrinking cities

Cited by 34 publications

References 37 publications

Cooperation, Proximity, and Social Innovation: Three Ingredients for Industrial Medium-Sized Towns’ Renewal?

Cooperation, Proximity, and Social Innovation: Three Ingredients for Industrial Medium-Sized Towns’ Renewal?

Urban shrinkage and housing in a post-socialist city: relationship between the demographic evolution and housing development in Łódź, Poland

Small towns shrinkage in the Jilin Province: A comparison between China and developed countries

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