A meta-analysis of shrinking cities in Europe and Japan. Towards an integrative research agenda

Figures & data

Figure 1. Number of publications between the years 2005 and 2017 included in the meta-analysis.

Table 1. Causes of urban shrinkage by region (in order of decreasing shares of cases mentioning specific causes).

Causes	Post-socialist Europe (%)	Mediterranean Europe (%)	Western Europe (%)	Japan (%)	n	% of Total
Deindustrialisation	32	31	46	2	54	28
Suburbanisation	15	14	15	32	38	19
Ageing	5	3	9	34	27	14
Out-migration	14	21	22	0	26	13
Low birth rate	5	7	2	32	23	12
Post-socialist transformation	27	0	0	0	16	8
Disaster/climate change	0	17	0	0	5	3
Other	2	7	6	0	6	3
Total	100	100	100	100	195	100

93 cases (without North American cases) out of 70 articles; multiple references possible (n = 195).

Table 2. Effects of urban shrinkage by region (in order of decreasing shares of cases mentioning specific effects).

Effects	Post-socialist Europe (%)	Mediterranean Europe (%)	Western Europe (%)	Japan (%)	n	% of Total
Housing vacancy	36	6	19	25	32	25
Unemployment	25	31	21	0	25	19
Urban decay	2	19	2	61	22	17
Economic decline	11	0	33	7	21	16
Segregation	7	13	5	0	7	6
Social disorder/crime	5	19	2	4	7	5
Social infrastructure	7	0	7	0	6	5
Stigmatisation	2	0	2	0	2	5
Other	5	13	7	4	8	2
Total	100	100	100	100	130	100

93 cases (without North American cases) out of 70 articles; multiple references possible (n = 130).

Table 3. Responses on urban shrinkage by region (in order of decreasing shares of cases mentioning specific responses).

Responses	Post-socialist Europe (%)	Mediterranean Europe (%)	Western Europe (%)	Japan (%)	n	% of Total
Urban/housing renewal	19	42	26	13	31	23
Demolition/downsizing housing	17	8	8	42	23	17
Economic diversification/recovery	21	25	15	0	21	15
Cultural regeneration/tourism	9	0	13	0	11	8
Bottom-up initiatives	6	17	2	13	9	7
Innovation/entrepreneurship	9	0	6	0	7	5
Environmental improvement	2	0	9	0	6	4
Active ageing	2	8	6	0	5	4
Land-use control	0	0	0	21	5	4
Foreign direct investment	9	0	0	0	4	3
Transportation system management	0	0	0	13	3	2
Educational reorganization	2	0	4	0	3	2
Social inclusion	2	0	2	0	2	1
Other	2	0	9	0	6	4
Total	100	100	100	100	136	100

93 cases (without North American cases) out of 70 articles; multiple references possible (n = 136).