Housing Vacancy and the Shrinking City: Trends and Policies in the UK and the City of Liverpool

Abstract

In the context of the discourse around shrinking cities, the aim of the paper was to try and better understand and differentiate the various types and causes of urban housing vacancy and to ask whether policy responses including planning policies appropriately reflect this variety. The paper briefly discusses the issue of shrinking cities, before considering theoretical explanations for housing vacancy and examining the relationships between population change, housing vacancy and policy responses in the Liverpool conurbation. Conclusions are then drawn about the nature of housing vacancy and the effectiveness of policy responses.

Keywords:

• Housing vacancy
• housing regeneration
• shrinking cities

Notes

1. ‘Shrink Smart’ is a collaboration of seven teams from seven case study areas across Europe and aims to explore the governance of shrinkage – how governance is affected by, and how it impacts upon, processes of shrinkage. The project runs from 2009 to 2012 and is funded by the European Union Framework VII research programme (Grant agreement no. 225193).

2. In 2010 the Gross Value Added per capita stood at £18027 in Greater Manchester and £14155 in Merseyside (Regional Trends, 2010, Table 3.2. Accessed 31.3.2011).