Shrinking Cities - International Project

Shrinking Cities - International Project
"6.1 billion people currently live on the earth, 3 billion of them in cities. By 2030, the population of the world will have increased by 2 billion (+33%). This increase will be stem almost exclusively from the growth in urban population. Every day, 190,000 new city-dwellers are added all over the world, 2 in every second. In the year 2030, 4.9 billion people will live in cities."
"But not all cities are taking part in this competition. Whether in Germany or the USA, in Russia or China, in South Africa or Iran, everywhere there are also shrinking cities that the constant media focus on boomtowns and megacities all too easily overlooks."
"In the last 50 years, about 370 cities with more than 100,000 residents have temporarily or lastingly undergone population losses of more than 10%. In extreme cases, the rate of loss reached peaks of up to 90% (Âbâdân, Iran)."
"The goal of the international study initiated by the project Shrinking Cities is to further the comparative discussion, thus far neglected, of the problem of shrunken cities. The study aims to foster the exchange of experience and knowledge and to contribute to the formation of an international working community."
"With the study, we hope to gain deeper insights into the processes of and into new aspects of dealing with shrinking urban spaces. It will also provide a basis for developing interventions in shrinking cities. The international study comprises on-site studies of the four examined places, a global statistical study, and cultural research."
link: Shrinking Cities Website