TITLE:
Portraying and Analysing Urban Shrinkage in Greek Cities—The Case of Larissa
AUTHORS:
Stella Manika
KEYWORDS:
Urban Shrinkage, Economic Crisis, Vacant Urban Spaces, Urban Policies, Greek Cities
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.8 No.2,
June
4,
2020
ABSTRACT: The
phenomenon of urban shrinkage is multidimensional, concerning regions, cities,
towns, or metropolitan areas that are facing population reductions and
simultaneously intense economic and social transformations. Greek cities are
experiencing strong signs of urban shrinkage such as thousands of enterprises
closing down, the emergence of a series of vacant commercial spaces, even whole
buildings abandoned, as a result of the economic crisis, mainly from 2011 and
onwards. This paper documents, analyses and investigates the changes brought by
urban shrinkage in Larissa—a medium-sized Greek city. It highlights the
characteristics of emerging new economic urban landscapes in Greek cities at a
time of uncertainty; it also
introduces a methodological research framework for urban shrinkage, which may be applied
in other Greek cities.