Shrink Smart - The Governance of Shrinkage

Over the past years shrinkage has become a “normal pathway” of urban and regional development. All across Europe cities and regions have experienced economic downturns, out-migration and demographic imbalances and as a consequence “urban shrinkage” has become a main challenge for urban development.
SHRINK SMART studies how this challenge is met by policies and governance systems in different types of shrinking urban regions. It is based on comparative case studies from seven urban regions throughout Europe. The project aims on analyzing different trajectories of shrinkage, understanding main challenges for urban planning and elaborating alternatives for urban governance.

Photos by Annegret Haase

As a result of the project, different trajectories of shrinkage processes within Europe will be defined and a set of policy recommendations for different constellations of shrinking cities will be developed. SHRINK SMART will engage in extensive dissemination activities and develop a set of tools and policy recommendations.
Shrinksmart is collaborative research project funded by the 7th Framework Programme/ Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities of the EC. 

The project was finished by 30 April 2012. The last update of this homepage was realized in December 2012.

Project title: SHRINK SMART - The Governance of Shrinkage within a European Context
Project number: 225193
Duration: 05/2009 – 04/2012
Project budget (EU contribution): 1.496.092 Euro

Project coordinator: Helmholtz – Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, FRG – Leipzig

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of the E.C.