RESUMO
Urban shrinkage is not a new phenomenon. It has been documented in a large literature analyzing the social and economic issues that have led to population flight, resulting, in the worse cases, in the eventual abandonment of blocks of housing and neighbourhoods. Analysis of urban shrinkage should take into account the new realization that this phenomenon is now global and multidimensional but also little understood in all its manifestations. Thus, as the world's population increasingly becomes urban, orthodox views of urban decline need redefinition. The symposium includes articles from 10 urban analysts working on 30 cities around the globe. These analysts belong to the Shrinking Cities International Research Network (SCIRN), whose collaborative work aims to understand different types of city shrinkage and the role that different approaches, policies and strategies have played in the regeneration of these cities. In this way the symposium will inform both a rich diversity of analytical perspectives and country-based studies of the challenges faced by shrinking cities. It will also disseminate SCIRN's research results from the last 3 years.
Assuntos
Cidades , Dinâmica Populacional , Características de Residência , Responsabilidade Social , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Reforma Urbana , Austrália/etnologia , Brasil/etnologia , Cidades/economia , Cidades/etnologia , Cidades/história , Cidades/legislação & jurisprudência , França/etnologia , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Internacionalidade/história , Internacionalidade/legislação & jurisprudência , Japão/etnologia , Dinâmica Populacional/história , Características de Residência/história , Problemas Sociais/economia , Problemas Sociais/etnologia , Problemas Sociais/história , Problemas Sociais/legislação & jurisprudência , Problemas Sociais/psicologia , Fatores Socioeconômicos/história , Estados Unidos/etnologia , Reforma Urbana/economia , Reforma Urbana/educação , Reforma Urbana/história , Reforma Urbana/legislação & jurisprudênciaRESUMO
Shrinking mining cities once prosperous settlements servicing a mining site or a system of mining sites are characterized by long-term population and/or economic decline. Many of these towns experience periods of growth and shrinkage, mirroring the ebbs and flows of international mineral markets which determine the fortunes of the dominant mining corporation upon which each of these towns heavily depends. This dependence on one main industry produces a parallel development in the fluctuations of both workforce and population. Thus, the strategies of the main company in these towns can, to a great extent, determine future developments and have a great impact on urban management plans. Climate conditions, knowledge, education and health services, as well as transportation links, are important factors that have impacted on lifestyles in mining cities, but it is the parallel development with the private sector operators (often a single corporation) that constitutes the distinctive feature of these cities and that ultimately defines their shrinkage. This article discusses shrinking mining cities in capitalist economies, the factors underpinning their development, and some of the planning and community challenges faced by these cities in Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.