The multiplex typologies of shrinking cities

Abstract

The globally known concept of shrinking cities has matured last years. A lot of international scientific knowledge has been collected and the local profiling of shrinking cities, as well as the overview of their extent and geographical distribution have been conducted in almost all countries and regions that are facing this phenomenon. However, there are still some ‘empty niches’ in the concept which can be found for the future research. The most of them are those that bridge different local and the regional meanings of a shrinking city and/or urban shrinkage. Therefore, they are crucial for the further progress in global knowledge about urban shrinkage. One of these open questions in the concept of shrinking cities is their typology. More concretely, typologies, because the phenomenon has become so common that multiplex typologies can be identified. Furthermore, there are many attempts to form local and regional typologies or the typologies based on the most prominent criteria, i.e. on the significant determiners of urban shrinkage. The aim of this paper is to review global knowledge regarding the present typologies of shrinking cities and to understand their complexity and relations. As an outcome, the presentation of different typologies of shrinking cities implies their better understanding, but even more it can contribute in the recent proposals how to find appropriate responses on urban shrinkage.