Some features of the ASCE Shopping cart and login features of the website will be down for maintenance on Sunday, June 16th, 2024, beginning at 12:00 A.M. ET and ending at 6:00 A.M. ET. During this time if you need immediate assistance at 1-800-548-2723 or [email protected].

Case Studies
Jul 26, 2021

Typology of Urban Shrinkage in Russia: Trajectories of Russian Cities

Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 147, Issue 4

Abstract

Most cities experience growth periods, leading to a population boom and to stagnation periods followed by population decline. Russian scientific literature uses terms such as depressed, crisis, problematic, and waning cities to describe the processes inherent to the phenomenon of shrinkage. To this day, there is no unanimity in the terms and definitions used, so each study sets its own criterion to define shrinkage. The current study aims to elaborate a growth-shrinkage typology of Russian cities, outline major shrinkage features, and answer the question of what might have initiated shrinking processes in the Russian Federation. The authors applied cluster analysis to 883 cities to study growth trajectories and decline over the last 30 years. Six types of cities were revealed: constantly growing, growing with stumbling, parabolic type, inverse parabolic type, continuous shrinkage after the year 1998, and continuous shrinkage after the year 1991. The main findings are that 73% of Russian cities have been experiencing shrinkage to various degrees, and only 27% are growing or have stood on the path of stable development recently. This study provides a better understanding of urban shrinkage in Russia, brings additional insights into the types of shrinkage of Russian cities, and fills the scientific literature gap. Current typology covers a broad range of Russian cities and could provide a new perspective on shrinkage problems in Russia.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

References

Alves, D., A. P. Barreira, M. H. Guimarães, and T. Panagopoulos. 2016. “Historical trajectories of currently shrinking Portuguese cities: A typology of urban shrinkage.” Cities 52: 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.11.008.
Antonov, E., E. Denisov, V. Efremova, and A. Faddeev. 2014. “Modern problems of shrinking cities development in the North-East of the Komi Republic.” Bull. Moscow Univ. 3 (2): 55–61.
Artmann, M., and J. Breuste. 2015. “Cities built for and by residents: Soil sealing management in the eyes of urban dwellers in Germany.” J. Urban Plann. Dev. 141 (3): A5014004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000252.
Averkieva, K. 2018. “Trying to support the urban shrinkage: The experience of monoindustial cities in the North of the Urals.” In Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges, 115. Moscow, Russia: Federal State Budgetary Organisation, Science Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Babaev, B., and A. Lodishkin. 2006. “Methodological and theoretical foundations for treatment of depression categories applied to small cities of old industrial regions.” Bull. Ivanovsk State Univ. 4: 42–52.
Bagchi-Sen, S., S. R. Franklin, P. Rogerson, and E. Seymour. 2020. “Urban inequality and the demographic transformation of shrinking cities: The role of the foreign born.” Appl. Geogr. 116: 102168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102168.
Bakanov, S. 2005. “Shrinking cities of the Ural region in the 1960s–1980s: An analysis of socioeconomic and demographic factors.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of History, Cheliabinsk State Univ.
Batunova, E. 2015. “Shrinking cities of Southern Russia : Specifics of the shrinkage pattern.” In Int. Conf. on Changing Cities II: Changing Cities: Spatial, Design, Landscape & Socio-Economic Dimensions, 2342–2351. Volos, Greece: Dept. of Planning and Regional Development, Univ. of Thessaly.
Batunova, E. 2017. “‘Designed’ Shrinkage? Managing demographic challenges/decline in urban planning.” In The case of small and medium-sized cities of Southern Russia, 1–328. Milan, Italy: Politecnico di Milano.
Breuste, J., M. Artmann, J. Li, and M. Xie. 2015. “Special issue on green infrastructure for urban sustainability.” J. Urban Plann. Dev. 141 (3): A2015001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000291.
Brown, C. S. 2004. “Blinded by blight: A search for a workable definition of blight in Ohio.” Univ. Cincinnati Law Rev. 73 (1): 207–233.
Chernyshev, K. 2016. “Identification of the depressed regions in modern Russia.” Regionology 4 (89): 5–13.
Cottineau, C. 2016. “A multilevel portrait of shrinking urban Russia.” In Espace Populations Sociétés. 2015/3-2016/1. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.4000/eps.6123. Accessed May 1, 2019. https://journals.openedition.org/eps/6123.
Couch, C., J. Karecha, H. Nuissl, and D. Rink. 2005. “Decline and sprawl: An evolving type of urban development—Observed in liverpool and Leipzig.” Eur. Plann. Stud. 13 (1): 117–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965431042000312433.
Diappi, L., P. Bolchi, and I. Slepukhina. 2013. “The emerging structure of Russian urban systems: A classification based on self-organizing maps.” In Proc., 53rd Congress of the European Regional Science Association: Regional Integration: Europe, the Mediterranean and the World Economy, 1–21. Palermo, Italy: European Regional Science Association (ERSA).
Ding, X., W. Zhong, R. G. Shearmur, X. Zhang, and D. Huisingh. 2015. “An inclusive model for assessing the sustainability of cities in developing countries—Trinity of cities’ sustainability from spatial, logical and time dimensions (TCS-SLTD).” J. Cleaner Prod. 109: 62–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.06.140.
Döringer, S., Y. Uchiyama, M. Penker, and R. Kohsaka. 2020. “A meta-analysis of shrinking cities in Europe and Japan. Towards an integrative research agenda.” Eur. Plann. Stud. 28 (9): 1693–1712. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2019.1604635.
Du, Z., and L. Xun. 2018. “Growing and shrinking cities in rapidly urbanizing China: A case of the pearl river delta.” In Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges, 119. Moscow, Russia: Federal State Budgetary Organisation, Science Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Efremova, V. 2015. “Trajectories of socio-economic development of shrinking cities in Russia.” In Int. and Interdisciplinary PhD Summer School: Urban Economic Development and Urban Governance in Post-Soviet Space, 20–22. Yekaterinburg, Russia: Ural State University of Economics.
Efremova, V. 2018. “Demographic trajectories of shrinking cities in Russia.” In Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges, 123. Moscow, Russia: Federal State Budgetary Organisation, Science Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Federal State Statistics Service. n.d. “Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service).” Accessed February 26, 2019. http://www.gks.ru/.
Golubchikov, O., and A. G. Makhrova. 2013. “Factors of uneven development of Russian cities.” Bull. Moscow Univ. 5 (2): 54–60.
Göschel, A. 2003. “Stadtumbau–Zur Zukunft schrumpfender Städte vor allem in den neuen Bundesländern.” Inf. Raumentwicklung 10 (11): 605–616.
Großmann, K., M. Bontje, A. Haase, and V. Mykhnenko. 2013. “Shrinking cities: Notes for the further research agenda.” Cities 35: 221–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.07.007.
Guimarães, M. H., A. P. Barreira, and T. Panagopoulos. 2013. “Shrinking cities in Portugal—Where and Why (Declínio Populacional nas Cidades de Portugal—Onde e Porquê).” Rev. Port. Estud. Reg. 40: 23–41.
Guimarães, M. H., L. C. Nunes, A. P. Barreira, and T. Panagopoulos. 2016. “What makes people stay in or leave shrinking cities? An empirical study from Portugal.” Eur. Plann. Stud. 24 (9): 1684–1708. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2016.1177492.
Gunko, M., Y. Eremenko, and E. Batunova. 2020. “Planning strategies in the context of urban shrinkage in Russia: Evidence from small and medium-sized cities.” Mir. Rossii. 29 (3): 121–141. https://doi.org/10.17323/1811-038X-2020-29-3-121-141.
Gunko, M., G. Pivovar, and K. Averkieva. 2019. “Renewal of small cities in European Russia (case study of Borovichi, Vyksa, Rostov).” Reg. Res. Russia 5: 18–31.
Gusev, V. 2012. “Russian monoprofiled cities: Projects of future or the archaic heritage of the past.” Government 10: 23–27.
Haase, A., A. Nelle, and A. Mallach. 2017. “Representing urban shrinkage—The importance of discourse as a frame for understanding conditions and policy.” Cities 69: 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2016.09.007.
Hannemann, C. 2004. Marginalisierte Städte. Probleme Differenzierungen und Chancen ostdeutscher Kleinstädte im Schrumpfungsprozess. Berlin: BW.
Hollander, J. B., and J. Németh. 2011. “The bounds of smart decline: A foundational theory for planning shrinking cities.” Housing Policy Debate 21 (3): 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2011.585164.
Hollander, J. B., K. Pallagst, T. Schwarz, F. J. Popper, and J. B. Hollander. 2009. “Planning shrinking cities.” Prog. Plann. 72 (4): 223–232.
Jain, A. K. 2010. Data clustering: 50 years beyond K-means. Pattern Recognit. Lett. 31 (8): 651–666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2009.09.011.
Kim, S. 2019. “Design strategies to respond to the challenges of shrinking city.” J. Urban Des. 24 (1): 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2018.1554345.
Lee, J. S., S. Won, and S. Kim. 2016. “Describing changes in the built environment of shrinking cities: Case study of Incheon, South Korea.” J. Urban Plann. Dev. 142 (2): 05015010. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000305.
Liubovniy, V., and O. Pchelintsev. 1998. Crisis cities of Russia: Ways and mechanisms of social and economic rehabilitation and development. 5th ed. Moscow, Russia: Moscow Public Fund.
Martinez-Fernandez, C., I. Audirac, S. Fol, and E. Cunningham-Sabot. 2012. “Shrinking cities: Urban challenges of globalization.” Int. J. Urban Reg. Res. 36 (2): 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2011.01092.x.
Martinez-Fernandez, C., T. Weyman, S. Fol, I. Audirac, E. Cunningham-Sabot, T. Wiechmann, and H. Yahagi. 2016. “Shrinking cities in Australia, Japan, Europe and the USA: From a global process to local policy responses.” Prog. Plann. 105: 1–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2014.10.001.
Milchakov, M. 2012. Factors and development dynamics of depressed regions and cities of Russia. Moscow: Moscow State Univ.
Nikitin, P. V. 2012. “Strategy and tactics of implementing the state transformation policy of socio-economic systems in the region.” Finance Econ. Strategy 5 (54): 34–38.
Pallagst, K., T. Wiechmann, and C. Martinez-Fernandez. 2013. Shrinking cities international perspectives and policy implications (Routledge advances in geography). London: Routledge.
Paramonova, V., and N. Dulina. 2015. “City status: Theoretical and applied value.” Probl. Soc. Hum. Signif. 9 (172): 30–34.
Plisetskii, E. 2018. “Administrative and organizational mechanisms for the spatial development of shrinking cities.” [In Russia.] Manage. Sci. 9 (2): 34–49.
Ponkratova, A., D. Bykova, and J. Onoprienko. 2016. “Influence of financial and credit crisis on the Russian economy and their consequences (the case « default» of 1998).” New Sci.: Curr. State Ways Dev. 12 (2): 71–73.
Popikov, A. 2016. “The analysis of crises in Russia in 2008–2009, and 2014–2016: Preconditions of occurrence, similarities and differences.” Internetnauka 10: 75–86.
Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. 2020. Moscow: Federal State Statistics Service.
Ribant, M., and X. Chen. 2020. “A typology of U.S. shrinking cities.” Prof. Geogr. 72 (1): 152–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2019.1633366.
Ryan, B. D. 2012. “Rightsizing shrinking cities: The urban design dimension.” In The City after Abandonment, edited by M. Dewar and J. Thomas, 268–288. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rybczynski, W., and P. Linneman. 1999. “How to save our shrinking cities.” Public Interest 135: 30–44.
Surkova, S., and V. Shusharina. 2009. “Depressed regions: Typological features and mechanisms for overcoming depression.” Econ. Manage. 1 (94): 25–37.
Svetlichnaya, T., and L. Menschikova. 2017. “Maternity capital as an economic factor, forming social expectation of women with two or more children.” J. Econ. Regul. 8 (1): 85–95. https://doi.org/10.17835/2078-5429.2017.8.1.085-095.
Trukhachev, Y., S. Trukhachev, E. Batunova, and M. Gunko. 2020. “Ivanovo region: In search of ways for development of a shrinking region within the framework of spatial planning institutions.” In Fundamental, Exploratory and Applied Research of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences on Scientific Support for the Development of Architecture, Urban Planning and the Construction Industry of the Russian Federation in 2020, 343–350. Moscow: ASV.
Turok, I., and V. Mykhnenko. 2007. “The trajectories of European cities, 1960–2005.” Cities 24 (3): 165–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2007.01.007.
Uporov, I. 2018. “Dying northern cities: The problem of a decent completion of a civilization cycle.” In Man and north: Anthropology, archaeology, ecology: Materials of all-Russian scientific conference, 435–438, Tyumen, Russia: Tyumen Scientific Center SB RAS Press.
Velieva, E., and I. Gulivich. 2020. “Maternity capital: Current state, implementation aspects of the right to maternity capital.” Mod. Sci. 2 (1): 150–154.
Vlasova, E., and I. Grin. 2015. “Depressed cities. Evaluation criteria and steps of shrinkage.” New Ideas New Century 1: 379–384.
Weaver, R., and S. Bagchi-Sen. 2017. Shrinking cities: Understanding urban decline in the United States. Abingdon, UK: Taylor and Francis.
Wolff, M., S. Fol, H. Roth, and E. Cunningham-Sabot. 2017. “Is planning needed? Shrinking cities in the French urban system.” Town Plann. Rev. 88 (1): 131–145. https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2017.10.
Wolff, M., and T. Wiechmann. 2018. “Urban growth and decline: Europe’s shrinking cities in a comparative perspective 1990–2010.” Eur. Urban Reg. Stud. 25 (2): 122–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969776417694680.
Zinchenko, O. 2017. “Small city: Problems solved by own forces, and problems solved with state support.” Ivanovo Univ. Bull. 2: 100–105.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 147Issue 4December 2021

History

Received: Nov 23, 2019
Accepted: Apr 7, 2021
Published online: Jul 26, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Dec 26, 2021

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Elena Barasheva [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Key Laboratory of Cold Region Urban and Rural Human Settlement Environment Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xi Da Zhi St., 66 Building, Harbin 150006, China. Email: [email protected]
Professor, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Key Laboratory of Cold Region Urban and Rural Human Settlement Environment Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Xi Da Zhi St., 66 Building, Harbin 150006, China (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]
Andrey Barashev [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, 13 Fayuan St., Nangang District, Harbin 150006, China. Email: [email protected]
Vladimir Bukhtoyarov [email protected]
Associate Professor, Dept. of Technological Machinery and Equipment of Oil and Gas Industry, Siberian Federal Univ., Svobodniy Avenue, 86, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia. Email: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

  • Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors of urban shrinkage in China within a multidimensional framework:A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Sustainable Cities and Society, 10.1016/j.scs.2023.104452, 91, (104452), (2023).
  • Shrinking Cities and Towns: Policy Responses to the Challenges, Urban Planning, and Development Strategies, Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000774, 147, 4, (2021).

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share