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Economic
The shrinking of urban populations indicates a changing of economic and planning conditions of a city. Cities begin to 'shrink' from economic decline, usually resulting from war, debt, or lack of production and work force. Population decline affects a large number of communities, both communities that are far removed from and deep within large urban centers. These communities usually consist of native people and long-term residents, so the initial population is not large. The out flow of people is then detrimental to the production potential and quality of life in these regions, and a decline in employment and productivity ensues.

Social and Infrastructural
Shrinking cities experience dramatic social changes due to fertility decline, changes in life expectancy, population aging, and household structure. Another reason for this shift is job-driven migration. This causes different household demands, posing a challenge to the urban housing market and the development of new land or urban planning. A decline in population does not inspire confidence in a city, and often deteriorates municipal morale. Coupled with a weak economy, the city and its infrastructure begin to deteriorate from lack of upkeep from citizens.

Political
Historically, shrinking cities have been a taboo topic in politics. Representatives ignored the problem and refused to deal with it, leading many to believe it was not a real problem.Today, urban shrinkage is a acknowledged issue, with many urban planning firms working together to strategize how to combat the implications that effect all dimensions of daily life.

International Perspectives
Former socialist regions in Europe and Central Asia usually suffer the most from population decline and deindustrialization. East German cities, as well as former Yugoslavian and Soviet territories, were significantly affected by the weak economic situation they were left in after the fall of socialism. The reunification of European countries yielded both benefits and drawbacks. German cities like Leipzig and Dresden, for example, experienced a drastic population decline as many people emigrated to western cities like Berlin. Hamburg in particular experienced a population boom with record production yields in 1991, after the unification of Germany. Leipzig and Dresden suffered from a failing economy and a neglected infrastructure. These cities were built to support a much larger population, but now are like ghost towns. Shrinking American cities faced different issues, with much of the population migrating out of shrinking cities to other states for better economic opportunities and safer conditions. Advanced capitalist countries generally have a larger population, so this shift is not as dangerous as it is to post-socialist countries. The United States also has more firms willing to rehabilitate shrinking cities and invest in improvement. For example, after the earthquake in San Francisco in 1989, the dynamics between the city and its residents provoked change and plans achieved visible improvements in the city. By contrast, cities in Germany have not gotten the same attention. Urban planning projects take a long time to be approved and established. As of now, Leipzig, Germany is taking steps toward making the city more nature-oriented and 'green' so that the population can be first stabilized, and then the country can focus on drawing the population back into the city.

History of the City
Leipzig was on its way to becoming a metropolis that attracted people from all over the Europe due to its central location. It was one of the major European centers of learning and culture in music and publishing. After World War II, it became the major urban and trade center within East Germany. Because Leipzig played a large role in the decline of communism in East Germany, the city itself also suffered economic drawbacks and declines resulting in a change in landscape, infrastructure and geography. Today, Leipzig is considered a ‘shrinking city’ because of its rapid population decline and infrastructure devastation. While Leipzig is one of the most livable cities in East Germany and is a prominent cultural center, it is still suffering the repercussions of the last World War, economically, politically and socially.

Causes of Depopulation
After World War II, the local economy in Leipzig was deflated and the regional economy desperately needed to be revitalized. The fall of socialist East Germany led to a mass emigration to other areas of the country. The housing vacancy had risen to 20%, and renovations in the older neighborhoods were needed. The post socialist conditions are partly to blame for the state in which many east German cities find themselves in. Because east Germany was a socialist country merging with a west-European capitalist country, it has a unique situation. Lingering socialist ideals competed with very democratic western philosophy, causing issues for old and new generations. Integrating east Germany into West Germany has been problematic because of regional variations due to differences in economic performance in the recent years. The whole area suffers from problems like joblessness, population loss, and a lack of renovation. In the case of Leipzig specifically, a dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs and mass out-migration has accelerated the shrinking process. Loss of stock in commercial real estate and housing stock produced a problematic picture to the whole of Germany and Europe in general. The transition from 40 years of socialist rule to a democratic-capitalist economy was not as smooth as thought. The loss of economic and socio-cultural importance did not fare well for Leipzig, or Germany. Becoming apart of the German Democratic Republic lead to the loss of several national functions of the former unitary state.

Effects of Depopulation
In 1949, when Leipzig was officially a part of the German Democratic Republic, the city underwent many infrastructure changes. National and regional industries like banks and the publishing media, left Leipzig for the capitalist western Germany. The German Democratic Republic prioritized pre-war traditions rather then investing in innovations; the city of Leipzig was to become the industrial center with large scale mining, which caused pollution in the air and the national and cultural landscape of the city was drastically changed. Villages were torn down to make room for the new machinery and coalfields. This causes inhabitants to leave the area, and at the end of GDR era in 1989, the population shrunk down to 530,000. Some neighborhoods were neglected because of their past-socialist nature. These infrastructures then began to disintegrate and there were no initiatives established to upkeep them. Nobody wanted to be reminded of communist times. 75% of the local industry was closed down within the years after the reunification of Germany. Small companies took over parts of the state, but it was not noticeable due to the large out flux of industry years earlier. There was huge environmental damage and social costs. The city had turned into a coal producing state, but the energy value of coal was poor, so continuation of coal mining was not economical. The city was destroyed by landscape devastation and air pollution, and the industry was not thriving and would not be continuing in the area. The physical infrastructure of roads, buildings and public transportation was designed for much larger population then is present, they are too large to represent the current population. Currently, the population is stagnate.

Policies and Investment Decisions
Urbanization is a cyclical process and urban and regional decline will make way for new growth. The Fordist model of industrialization was employed, which was characterized by mass standardized production and mass employment in large complexes. This mass production technology created increases in output due to specialization of jobs based on individual workers' skills and top-down management. While the output was unprecedented, this put added pressure on wages causing a stagnation. There was an unbalanced relationship between consumption and production in that there was not enough payoff for the working class to incentivize working hard. Human capital, creativity and competitiveness are key to successfully industrializing the city. Neglected areas of the city were ignored because of there connection to former socialist memories. Instead of renovating, large city centers were built away from the center of the city. These large buildings fell victim to the effects of neglect like decay. Large construction and renovation projects were meant to strengthen the optimistic view on the future of Germany. Suburban housing projects were constructed around the city so the houses could be offered to those who left the city earlier. The goal was to offer housing opportunities so that the population would come back and the regional population would not decline too drastically.

There was a policy of ‘restitution before financial compensation’ which had an adverse effect on inner city renovation projects. The was an accelerated out migration to the suburbs and countryside which resulted in many empty houses in the city despite their perfect state of condition after renovation. Stimulating suburbanization increased the already too large housing stock in the region and failed to mitigate the inner city vacancy problems. The city would do best if the development policy was aimed at modest economic growth and employment was created to stabilize the urban population and prevent a new exodus to the west.

Census Trends
After the fall of East Germany, the population of the German Democratic Republic suffered a decline. After the Second World War, there was a out-migration of 3.8 million people from East Germany to West Germany. This was so drastic that East Germany would eventually cease to exist. The rest of Germany felt the only option was to cut off ties completely with Eastern Germany. However, the shift from communist to capitalist gave new employment opportunities in retail, transportation and communication, but this only accounted for a small amount of the economy that was lost. There were not enough people living in the city to make use of these opportunities. Unemployment was not too high at 20%, but still higher than other cities in West Germany and other EU countries. The working class neighborhoods fell victim to the large scale vacancy.

Efforts to Mitigate Shrinking
The new policies are shifting their focus toward stabilizing the current population and adjusting the housing stock to the population size. The city has developed a strategy to adapt housing stock and infrastructure according to a ‘shrinking city’ model. There will be demolition of housing that were neglected or there is too little demand for living. These neglected areas are then replaced with parks or squares. The goal is to turn the area into a more attractive and greener, nature-oriented environment. This in turn encourages a more spacious livelihood and leads to a higher quality of life, which could potentially attract urban dwellers to these remodeled neighborhoods, as well as land developers.

Stimulating owner-occupancy is another important strategy that strengthens the ties between the city and its inhabitants. There is a lack of clients and purchasing power for retailers, which causes problems especially for working class neighborhoods. There is a public hearing that is held to brainstorm strategies for solving this problem, like focusing exclusively on physical solutions like improvements of housing stock and public space. Long-term monitoring of sustainable urban open space development at the city district level will also be helpful in the long run. Concrete socio-economic evidence of the benefits that green spaces bring to shrinking cities would be a valuable contribution to the rehabilitation of a shrinking city like Leipzig.

Future Plans
A coherent urban development strategy is hard to find because there is a lot of plans, each dealing with different parts of the problem. The government is not to blame completely for the state Leipzig is in currently, as there are many facets of the shrinking city problem that need to be addressed. The government has not failed to find the right solutions, or been too optimistic in their judgements. Leipzig has a bad connotation in other parts of West Germany, which is where most investors come from. Leipzig can claim that they have branches of large office of West German companies like BMW and Porsche, but this does not result in enough jobs or opportunities to push the unemployment rate back to an acceptable level. The politicians and investors should not see the shrinking of the city as negative or a problem that cannot be solved; but that it offers things that other cities do not have like space for innovation, creative subcultures, cheap start-up rents, and an increase of green space for making the city more attractive. The attempt to get the 2012 Olympics to take place in Leipzig brought renewed recognition for the discussion of more building projects. For now, the city needs to focus on stabilizing the current population and lowering the unemployment rate by increasing opportunities within the city.