Guest editors

Jian Wang (SILC Business School, Shanghai University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); Ying Long (School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); Xueliang Zhang (School of Urban and regional science, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Xuepeng Qian (Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Sophia University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Urban shrinkage, a concurrent manifestation of population decline and economic recession, significantly impacts urban economic performance and sustainable development. Initially prevalent in Western Europe post the era of remarkable post-war urban growth, many cities, such as those in the Ruhr basin, northern England, and Wallonia, began to experience shrinkage during the 1970s and 1980s. However, urban shrinkage is not confined to the developed western territories. It has emerged as a universal phenomenon, accompanying the ongoing process of global urbanization. Numerous large cities in Eastern Asia, for instance, are grappling with population decline. Thus, urban shrinkage warrants extensive attention from urban scholars as it continues to become a prevailing issue across a growing number of global cities.

The objective of this Special Issue is to delve deeper into the realm of urban shrinkage, aiming to properly define it, understand its impacts on local growth, regional development, governance, and sustainable development. Moreover, this issue aims to explore potential responses and remedies to counter the shrinkage pattern and to glean cross-cutting insights from investigating the nature of urban shrinkage.

This Special Issue invites contributions that advance our comprehension of the conceptualization, driving forces, consequences, and responses surrounding urban shrinkage. We welcome research articles characterized by, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Reconceptualizing and Identifying Urban Shrinkage
• Utilizing Refined, Granular Data to Analyze Shrinking Landscapes
• Spatial Heterogeneity and Temporal Dynamics in Urban Shrinkage
• Sustainable Transition of Resource-Based Cities and Revitalization
• Uncovering Driving Factors of Urban Shrinkage
• Regional Economic Dynamics Amidst Urban Shrinkage
• Interlinkages between Urban Shrinkage and Sustainable Development
• Green Urban Planning Strategies for Shrinking Cities
• Urban Decline: Government Policies and Interventions

We encourage submissions that offer innovative insights, interdisciplinary approaches, and actionable solutions to the challenges posed by urban shrinkage. By fostering a diverse dialogue, we aim to propel forward the global discourse on fostering resilience and sustainable growth in the face of urban shrinkage.