Final Report Summary - PLANSHRINKING (Planning cultures in the USA and in Germany in comparison - the example of shrinking cities)
General Overview of the Project
With growing interconnectedness on a European and a global scale, the task arises to facilitate an exchange on economic, social, and environmental developments beyond Europe’s boundaries. On an international scale, it is still not clear if or in what way planning paradigms, planning systems, planning strategies, and planning cultures are adapting when faced with urban shrinkage. The project aims at bridging both the US and German discussion on planning cultures with an evidence-based comparative research work through the window of shrinking cities. By this means, paradigm shifts and possible changes in planning cultures will be identified, and an innovative toolset for evaluating planning strategies regarding shrinkage will be developed.
Differing institutional and cultural conditions have brought about spatial planning systems that show basic comparable features; however, these planning systems are tailored to specific cultural, normative and spatial situations. Despite the growing demand for an international viewpoint in urban and regional planning, planning cultures is not (yet) an established research topic in the sphere of urban and regional development.
The second sphere of interest in the project PlanShrinking is urban shrinkage. There is a rising awareness that several cities in Europe and the US have to deal with challenges of long-term demographic and economic changes leading to housing vacancies, underused infrastructure and other negative impacts (compare ongoing research work by the COST Action 0803 Cities ReGrowing smaller).
Often, issues of shrinking cities were predominantly interpreted as effects of hollowing out processes of the urban centers, triggered by suburbanization and urban sprawl. In contrast to such assumptions, overarching globalization pressures initiated decline in many American and European regions. However, extent spatial distributions of population decrease differ significantly between Europe and the US.
The research project PlanShrinking places shrinking cities in a global perspective setting the context for in-depth case studies in the USA and Germany. The comparative approach will consider specific cultural, social, economic, environmental and land-use issues. Applying the 'right' strategies when it comes to the makeover of a shrinking city in whatever way seems to be crucial, yet it remains unknown territory.
Objectives of the Project
In this context the following two aims and respective research questions will be investigated:
1. Identify paradigm shifts, and possible changes in planning systems and planning cultures in view of shrinking cities in Germany and the USA.
- Which assumptions and values regarding planning have changed or have been adjusted?
- What are the options for a shrinking city (among them redevelopment, landscape beautification, historic preservation, ecological restoration, temporary uses, demolition of neighborhoods, benign neglect)? In what way have rebuilding strategies been successful or failed?
2. Develop a toolset to evaluate planning strategies for shrinking cites
- Which strategies have been successful, which failed, and why?
- Which requirements for future oriented planning from the international comparison can be utilized for shrinking cities?
- What are major benchmarks for the perception of shrinkage, which could be utilized as an early warning system?
The following is a description of the work performed and the results achieved so far during the current reporting period:
Research steps
- The research team has completed the case study research in the USA and in Germany. The analysis of the cities of Kaiserslautern, Zwickau, Youngstown and Flint based on statistical data and expert interviews is finalized and the results are presented as fact sheets on the project’s website www.uni-kl.de/planshrinking.
- To compare the four case study cities a set of indicators was defined in line with the results of previous analyses and the indicator-based comparison of the four cities was completed.
- A tool was developed to help cities assess their position within the shrinkage cycle. Moreover it should leverage cities to determine possible measures for dealing with population losses and possible strategies. Prerequisite of the tool was to ensure its easy and feasible applicability.
- The results of the case study research, the comparative research and the assessment of planning culture in the USA and Germany were summarized and published on the website www.uni-kl.de/planshrinking.(Feedback session?).
- Conclusions from the assessment of planning cultures, the analysis of case studies and the comparison have been drawn and summarized and currently are prepared as an article for publication.
Publications
- A journal article including the theoretical framework, the case study research and part of the conclusions drawn from the comparison was submitted to the journal “Planning Theory and Practice” and is currently under review.
- Another article with detailed case study analysis is under preparation for a Special Issue of the journal “Town Planning Review” (Prof. Pallagst is the co-editor of this special issue).
- For a full list of publications including results from the PlanShrinking project, please see the attachment “Publications”
- Additionally, several articles based on student research on the case studies within the project have been published in the IPS online journal “PlanIt!” (ISSN 2198-4514).
- Throughout the reporting period, the project was presented at a number of conferences and congresses. For a full list of presentations please see the attachment “Lectures and moderations”
Teaching
- The project was part of two student seminars within the University of Kaiserslautern’s master of Urban and Regional Development program, titled “Urban and Regional Development Lab, involving students in the case study research”, and “Methods of Comparative Planning”, engaging students in drawing on the comparative research framework .
- In the spring of 2014, the research team organized field research as part of the Masters course ‘excursions’. IN this course, 7 students had the opportunity to study the Flint/MI case, one of the case study cities in the USA, engage in field studies, and collaborate with stakeholders of the city/county, and citizens.
- Furthermore the projects outreach activities, like the workshop in September 2012 and the field trip in March 2014, have been published as articles in “UniSpectrum”, the University’s magazine.
- Further research interests have been identified and submitted as two research proposals to the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Key findings of the research project
One of the main results for the second period is the results of the comparative analysis which reveals similarities and differences in the local strategies for shrinkage. All of the examples studied in this research demonstrate that industrial transformation affects manufacturing towns to a large extent, both in Germany (East and West) and in the USA, inducing unemployment, housing vacancies, and population losses – the usual downward spiral.
What is striking is that – although the cities applied a range of strategies in dealing with shrinkage – in retrospect many of the approaches appear as trial-and-error moves. It became obvious, that substitute industries play an important role, although they can differ from location to location. In fact, the presence of a university proves to be a strong motor for development as demonstrated in Kaiserslautern, Zwickau, Flint and Youngstown.
Moreover, all of the cities which have accepted shrinkage as a development path, have meanwhile applied some sort of a comprehensive planning strategy in order to offer a vision or guideline for future development, but also as a basis for community building.
With growing interconnectedness on a European and a global scale, the task arises to facilitate an exchange on economic, social, and environmental developments beyond Europe’s boundaries. On an international scale, it is still not clear if or in what way planning paradigms, planning systems, planning strategies, and planning cultures are adapting when faced with urban shrinkage. The project aims at bridging both the US and German discussion on planning cultures with an evidence-based comparative research work through the window of shrinking cities. By this means, paradigm shifts and possible changes in planning cultures will be identified, and an innovative toolset for evaluating planning strategies regarding shrinkage will be developed.
Differing institutional and cultural conditions have brought about spatial planning systems that show basic comparable features; however, these planning systems are tailored to specific cultural, normative and spatial situations. Despite the growing demand for an international viewpoint in urban and regional planning, planning cultures is not (yet) an established research topic in the sphere of urban and regional development.
The second sphere of interest in the project PlanShrinking is urban shrinkage. There is a rising awareness that several cities in Europe and the US have to deal with challenges of long-term demographic and economic changes leading to housing vacancies, underused infrastructure and other negative impacts (compare ongoing research work by the COST Action 0803 Cities ReGrowing smaller).
Often, issues of shrinking cities were predominantly interpreted as effects of hollowing out processes of the urban centers, triggered by suburbanization and urban sprawl. In contrast to such assumptions, overarching globalization pressures initiated decline in many American and European regions. However, extent spatial distributions of population decrease differ significantly between Europe and the US.
The research project PlanShrinking places shrinking cities in a global perspective setting the context for in-depth case studies in the USA and Germany. The comparative approach will consider specific cultural, social, economic, environmental and land-use issues. Applying the 'right' strategies when it comes to the makeover of a shrinking city in whatever way seems to be crucial, yet it remains unknown territory.
Objectives of the Project
In this context the following two aims and respective research questions will be investigated:
1. Identify paradigm shifts, and possible changes in planning systems and planning cultures in view of shrinking cities in Germany and the USA.
- Which assumptions and values regarding planning have changed or have been adjusted?
- What are the options for a shrinking city (among them redevelopment, landscape beautification, historic preservation, ecological restoration, temporary uses, demolition of neighborhoods, benign neglect)? In what way have rebuilding strategies been successful or failed?
2. Develop a toolset to evaluate planning strategies for shrinking cites
- Which strategies have been successful, which failed, and why?
- Which requirements for future oriented planning from the international comparison can be utilized for shrinking cities?
- What are major benchmarks for the perception of shrinkage, which could be utilized as an early warning system?
The following is a description of the work performed and the results achieved so far during the current reporting period:
Research steps
- The research team has completed the case study research in the USA and in Germany. The analysis of the cities of Kaiserslautern, Zwickau, Youngstown and Flint based on statistical data and expert interviews is finalized and the results are presented as fact sheets on the project’s website www.uni-kl.de/planshrinking.
- To compare the four case study cities a set of indicators was defined in line with the results of previous analyses and the indicator-based comparison of the four cities was completed.
- A tool was developed to help cities assess their position within the shrinkage cycle. Moreover it should leverage cities to determine possible measures for dealing with population losses and possible strategies. Prerequisite of the tool was to ensure its easy and feasible applicability.
- The results of the case study research, the comparative research and the assessment of planning culture in the USA and Germany were summarized and published on the website www.uni-kl.de/planshrinking.(Feedback session?).
- Conclusions from the assessment of planning cultures, the analysis of case studies and the comparison have been drawn and summarized and currently are prepared as an article for publication.
Publications
- A journal article including the theoretical framework, the case study research and part of the conclusions drawn from the comparison was submitted to the journal “Planning Theory and Practice” and is currently under review.
- Another article with detailed case study analysis is under preparation for a Special Issue of the journal “Town Planning Review” (Prof. Pallagst is the co-editor of this special issue).
- For a full list of publications including results from the PlanShrinking project, please see the attachment “Publications”
- Additionally, several articles based on student research on the case studies within the project have been published in the IPS online journal “PlanIt!” (ISSN 2198-4514).
- Throughout the reporting period, the project was presented at a number of conferences and congresses. For a full list of presentations please see the attachment “Lectures and moderations”
Teaching
- The project was part of two student seminars within the University of Kaiserslautern’s master of Urban and Regional Development program, titled “Urban and Regional Development Lab, involving students in the case study research”, and “Methods of Comparative Planning”, engaging students in drawing on the comparative research framework .
- In the spring of 2014, the research team organized field research as part of the Masters course ‘excursions’. IN this course, 7 students had the opportunity to study the Flint/MI case, one of the case study cities in the USA, engage in field studies, and collaborate with stakeholders of the city/county, and citizens.
- Furthermore the projects outreach activities, like the workshop in September 2012 and the field trip in March 2014, have been published as articles in “UniSpectrum”, the University’s magazine.
- Further research interests have been identified and submitted as two research proposals to the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Key findings of the research project
One of the main results for the second period is the results of the comparative analysis which reveals similarities and differences in the local strategies for shrinkage. All of the examples studied in this research demonstrate that industrial transformation affects manufacturing towns to a large extent, both in Germany (East and West) and in the USA, inducing unemployment, housing vacancies, and population losses – the usual downward spiral.
What is striking is that – although the cities applied a range of strategies in dealing with shrinkage – in retrospect many of the approaches appear as trial-and-error moves. It became obvious, that substitute industries play an important role, although they can differ from location to location. In fact, the presence of a university proves to be a strong motor for development as demonstrated in Kaiserslautern, Zwickau, Flint and Youngstown.
Moreover, all of the cities which have accepted shrinkage as a development path, have meanwhile applied some sort of a comprehensive planning strategy in order to offer a vision or guideline for future development, but also as a basis for community building.