Shrinking Cities for Economic Growth? Insights From the Housing Sector

António Ferreira, Kim C. von Schönfeld, Fanny Augis and Paulo Conceição
Additional contact information
António Ferreira: CITTA—Centre for Research on Territory, Transports and Environment, University of Porto, Portugal
Kim C. von Schönfeld: CITTA—Centre for Research on Territory, Transports and Environment, University of Porto, Portugal / Department of Civil Engineering, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
Fanny Augis: CITTA—Centre for Research on Territory, Transports and Environment, University of Porto, Portugal
Paulo Conceição: CITTA—Centre for Research on Territory, Transports and Environment, University of Porto, Portugal

Urban Planning, 2024, vol. 9

Abstract: This research focuses on examining how the pursuit of economic growth can contribute to urban shrinkage. In contrast to the prevalent definition of urban shrinkage that links population loss to insufficient levels of economic growth, this study examines the case of Coimbra, Portugal, where something different is happening. We hypothesise that Coimbra experiences population loss due to urban policies that promote economic growth through housing speculation. We conclude that the hypothesis is valid using semi-structured interviews and document analysis as data collection methods. The identified phenomenon disproportionately affects younger and vulnerable residents, forcing them to relocate due to unaffordable housing options. However, it benefits the local authority and national government, which collaborate with global economic powers that invest in real estate to accumulate capital. The conformist and legalistic-bureaucratic nature of the Portuguese planning system, evident in Coimbra’s local authority, exacerbates the problem. We emphasise the potentially transformative impact of economic degrowth thinking on housing policy. The implications of this research question the validity of mainstream economic theory as commonly applied to urban planning.

Keywords: Coimbra; economic degrowth; housing; population loss; Portugal; urban shrinkage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/7721 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v9:y:2024:a:7721

DOI: 10.17645/up.7721

Access Statistics for this article

Urban Planning is currently edited by Tiago Cardoso

More articles in Urban Planning from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().